Eye of the storm
by kiwikid
Summary: A crossover of Avengers and Mission Impossible, set after Rogue Nation and Civil war. Ethan's team is in crisis with Benji suffering post traumatic stress and Brandt distant and unresponsive . The team leader wonders if he can get his team back on track or whether he will begin again with a new one. He is going to need the best to survive the new storm of evil that is coming.
1. Chapter 1

Eye of the storm- a crossover between IMF and The Avengers, set after Rogue Nation and Civil war

Things are changing with his team with Benji suffering from post traumatic stress and Brandt distant and unresponsive. Ethan does not know if he can pull them back together. It will probably take time or something really bad happening. He cannot see the storm clouds gathering yet, but they are coming and they will all need to be at their best or be consumed.

Prologue- After the end of Civil war.

Steve Rogers looked over his shaken teammates. All of them had suffered while being locked up in the raft. He approached them one by one, to talk softly and reassure that their choices had not all been for nothing. Clint Barton was the last to get a "captain America' speech. The archer had a family ,that had been hit hard by his both his absence and subsequent labeling as a criminal. "Thanks again Barton, I know the personal price has been high", he began. "It is Steve", Clint responded soberly, "some of my best friends are now my enemies". I do not regret my choices but nothing will ever be the same again".Steve clasped his hand warmly, "you get to go home and be with your family Clint, that has not changed". He handed Clint a phone, 'just in case you need to contact me or I you. Now go Clint".

Steve watched as Clint Barton drove away to meet up with his wife and live in yet another secret location.

He did not know that Clint had stopped just a few meters down the road. He was not planning on going home now or anytime soon. "I don't get to be with all of my family Steve", he said to the air, "not now, not ever. That is the problem with making a choice it can divide more than just friends, but family too". Clint kept driving into the night, away from Laura and his kids.

Chapter 1- a testing time

The steering wheel was damp from the sweat of his palms as he held it in a near death grip. He could hear his heart beating at twice its normal speed, making his breath suck out in gasps. It was almost terror rising up within him as he looked at his destination. "Come on you've done this before, so why should today be any different", he muttered to himself like a mantra designed to calm. It did not work because another part of his mind was saying, "what if today is the day it all changes". "Then you deal with it",yet another more logical part of himself declared. "You are the one who planned this, who agreed to the terms, now you have to see this through. Do it", he told himself firmly. His hands slowly unwound from the wheel and he finally exited the car. Standing still for a brief moment he took a deep steadying breath before moving off into what seemed like thick and dense bush in front of him.

It was of course just an illusion and he could clearly see the door in front of him. Tapping in a code he opened it and proceeded down the corridor and into a room. In front of him now was the first of the tests he had to pass. It was a weapons scanner, put in place to ensure anyone who came in here was not armed, by any means. This machine could detect anything, even chemical and non metal based weapons. He knew the rules from experience and was not carrying anything, though part of him felt extremely uncomfortable about that fact. This place was very dangerous after all.

He walked with confidence through the machine and into the next door beyond. This was the part that he did not like. From yet another door, came a man. He had never been told this mans name, he did not need to know, so he had labeled him the big unfriendly giant . He was almost 6 foot 7 and looked down on him with the grim look that was just part of his demeanor. "You know the drill, take your clothes off and lie on the bed", the man told him.

He felt himself swallow hard as he looked over at that bed. His legs felt like lead as he walked toward its cold metal surface. Once at its side he rapidly disrobed, until he was very vulnerably naked. Then he lay down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling as he braced himself. The clamps around his legs snapped shut first, hard around his ankles. Then it was his wrists, pinning both arms down. He raised his head slightly only to have it pushed down hard by the giant who held him in place until the neck clamp came across.

The big unfriendly giant tapped his cheek with a tight teethed grin at his vulnerability. "If you fail, then I have the next bit ready for you", the man told him nastily holding the syringe and needle just inches from his neck. It would render him unconscious he knew. Failure would mean he would never return from the trip, he was supposed to be taking today. The others would be told he'd suffered an accident that had contributed to his death. There of course would be evidence so the claim would not be refuted.

Held down by restraints there was little he could do as the man attached, leads to his head and chest. Then came the long needle that dug painlessly into his arm, tapped into his veins. "Be a good boy now", the giant said in a condescending tone as he left the room to enter the cubicle at the end. This was where the machine was that would monitor him for the next couple of hours. He closed his eyes.

Time seemed to fade away until the giants heavy footsteps awakened him. "It seems you don't get to join us this time", the man sounded disappointed. "You can go", he added as he released the restraints and set about removing any other traces of the monitoring devices.

Once everything was either off or out of his body , he stood up and exited by the door at the far side.

This lead to a corridor that divided into two pathways half way down. The walk was not a long one, but it was designed to intimidate. The closed iron doors he passed, each with a little flap, stood as stark reminders of what might be his fate one day. He did not stop to look inside, even when he heard groaning. His legs just kept moving until he reached the dividing portion , then he took the left fork. The dividing wall was clear hard plastic allowing a view of both sides, more cells. Behind him he heard a sound of the door opening. This had never happened before and was not supposed to happen. One of the rules put in place was that nobody saw him come or go. Now he could hear foot steps beside him as whoever it was outpaced him on the other side of the corridor. He knew he should not look, yet felt his head turn all the same.

The man on the other side must have had the same thoughts as he too turned toward him. Their eyes met and he felt a name fall from his lips no matter how hard he tried to keep it in, "Clint", he said harshly.

Clint Barton had just been through the same things his twin had and was looking forward to leaving this place. Now however he was standing still in the middle of a prison staring at his twin brother. "Will", he acknowledged flatly in response. He then deliberately turned away, not waiting to see the look of disappointment in the others eyes. Behind them the door opened again and two men came out. They hurried toward the duo. "You know the rules gentlemen, keep moving", the big unfriendly giant warned. The other one had a thicker body mass that warned he may be an even tougher opponent. Neither one was someone you should disobey.

Clint was already moving of course, toward the final door. He turned the handle , only to find it was locked. Someone really had stuffed up. Looking back at the men he expected to see them closing in on both of them. However both the men only seemed to have one target and it was not him. 'It was Will who had moved rapidly from his one side of the corridor to this one. "Get out", he found himself yelling, "and leave me alone".

"Oh no, I owe you something Clint and I want to collect", Will's words were not in a friendly tone. Clint turned from the door to face his twin, "Really, it would not be a fair fight, Will. So just back off", he growled. "So you think I'm that bad then, may be you are just a coward Clint", Will growled back. His entire body was now tense as he stomped closer to his twin.

They were only two paces away when both the large men caught him and pulled him back. "You should let the idiot find out what will happen to him if he takes me on", Clint told them sourly as he glared at Will. The big unfriendly giant smiled roughly, enjoying Will's discomfort, "do it then" he said, "something small, unnoticeable, yet painful, he deserves it for breaking the rules"

Will heard the words but did not struggle in the mens grasp, it would be pointless. He just focused on his twin as he came closer.

Clint stepped forward and reached to take Will's right wrist. He began to squeeze it hard while looking Will in the eye.

Will could feel the pressure turn into pain but kept his lips pursed firmly together while matching Clint glare for glare. He was determined not to give him the satisfaction of making a sound.

Yet the pain went on and on, increasing in intensity, all the while not damaging an inch of his skin. Finally Will felt himself grunt, "enough". Clint grinned horribly at him increasing the force of his hold again for another minute before finally letting go. 'I did not leave any permanent damage, yet it will still burn like the flames of a fire for a few hours". It should teach him a lesson. Though, a few hours together might be a little more satisfying ",Clint spat out.

"Maybe you will get your chance, one day, if you join us".Mind you I think I might like a chance myself, so you'd have to deal with me first", the big unfriendly giant told Clint. He slapped him across the face just to get his message across.

"For now though both of you should go", the other giant told them. He slapped Will twice across the face with enough force to shake him. Will could see Clint grinning the entire time."Next time obey the rules and keep to your own path", the other giant stressed.

Despite the stinging in his face Will had to retort, "we weren't supposed to meet". "Yeah well occasionally there are other types of tests as well", the man replied. "You seem to be the one who likes to disobey". "I will remember that", he said menacingly.

Clint turned away from his twin and toward the exit door, "next time I might actually break your arm", he stated simply, in a tone that was matter of fact , holding not shred of any type of feeling.

"Yeah well one day I am going to break your neck", Will retorted in the same tone. 'Don't assume, I can't or won't either".

Clint did not bother to reply, he was already half out the door, his pace calm and unbothered, just like the man behind him was talking about the weather.

Will paused a moment, then turned and poked his tongue out at the two giants. It was, he knew childish, but it held a type of satisfaction. The big unfriendly giant smiled in response and pointed to the door.

Will was through it quickly ,back out under the sky and sucking in the fresh air. It felt amazing. He could feel the throbbing in his arm, but ignored it. He just needed to get far away from here.

The drive back to his apartment was a long one and his wrist throbbed the entire the time. By the time he got home he had a pounding headache to go along with the throbbing. Moving over to his medicine cabinet he took a couple of pain killers. He then went to his bedroom ,tossed his clothes off onto the floor and fell into bed. Despite the fact he had rested during the testing time he fell to sleep quickly.

The next morning he awoke slowly glad he did not have to get up and go to work. He was just considering rolling over and pulling the blankets over his head when he remembered something important. "Ethan", he muttered as he quickly jumped up.

Today was the day that Ethan and the others on the team had all invited themselves over. They had never been to his place before as he had always managed to find an excuse to keep them away. This time though none of his protestations had worked and Ethan, Benji,Jane and Luther were all going to descend on him at 1030.

At least he'd have plenty of time to prepare he told himself. Then he looked at the time on his clock and realized a fair part of the morning had already passed. There was barely one hour to get ready. Okay, get dressed, he told himself firmly. He decided on something causal and relaxed looking, to provide the illusion he had no worries. However one look down at his right arm changed his mind. Overnight his arm had turned black with bruises. That was definitely not good as eagle eyed Ethan was bound to notice.

He thought immediately of texting him to cancel the morning tea. However that would be suspicious and Ethan was most likely already on his way. "Dammit", he swore.

Hurrying to the bathroom he tried to find something to cover the bruising with. There was nothing there. As time ticked away on him Will calmed his panicked state and decided to go with the only option he could think of, wearing a long sleeved shirt. It was his analyst look and would not be commented upon.

He did the cuff button up on the shirt just in case and looked in the mirror. A pale face stared back at him. He could also see traces of older brusies on his chest where his shirt hung open. They were from previous visits to the testing place. Quickly doing up the shirt, he thought of a few reasons for his appearance in his head, going over them a few times so they sounded convincing.

Deciding he was finally prepared enough Will went out of his bedroom and into the living area, where he sat staring at the door until it finally chimed.

Ethan, had been checking his messages for the past couple of hours expecting to get one from Will that told him not to come. Will had become increasingly more distant since winding up the rogue nation mission, was that because Luther had told him bluntly that he did not like him. While Luther had no problems with Benji or Jane as members of the team he felt that Brandt was not a suitable member as he argued too much. "Betraying us to Hunley was part of the act, Ethan but he made it convincing because he wanted to do it anyway. Then he spends all that time arguing with you instead of trusting your instincts .He acts like you don't know what you are doing. It's going to lead to trouble", Luther warned.

Ethan, had countered that Luther did not really know Brandt and should spend more time with him before he made judgements .

That had led up to todays morning tea at Brandt's place. Ethan hoped it would relax all of his friends. Benji was still having nightmares about his treatment at the hands of Lane. He had been temporarily removed from active duty and was spending a lot of time either alone or in counseling. What had happened to him had raised doubts that he was not an effective agent as he should not have allowed himself to be taken by Lane and his men. This relaxed chat over coffee and hopefully cake would give Benji a chance to feel normal and for Brandt to get over whatever was going on with him.

However when Brandt opened the door Ethan had to restrain a comment over his appearance. He looked like he had been to a wild party and was still shaking off the effects. Of course if Brandt had been to a party it was not his business unless his personal state interfered with his performance on a mission.

"Good morning Brandt", he said shaking the other mans hand.

"Morning Ethan",Will replied softly . He knew Ethan had already evaluated his state within one second and would not state his made up story unless Ethan asked more questions.

"Come on through", Brandt invited leading Ethan through to the living area. He was about to tell him to sit down when the door buzzed again and he hurried away to answer its call.

Ethan looked around Brandt's apartment with a frown on his face. It was so sterile, like a hospital room or prison cell. Yes it was functional, but it did not have character or warmth.

He knew of course that agents were never safe, even at home and that personal photos hanging upon the walls could endanger other people if you were compromised. But that did not mean your living space had to be empty of character and life. Brandt's was and that had Ethan wondering if he actually did live here.

When Luther, Jane and Benji were escorted in by Brandt he could see by the expressions on their face they were thinking the same thing.

"Its kind of plain", Jane said frankly as she looked around for even one touch of homeliness. "Yeah well don't get much time for decorating, Will defended. "I like it like this", he added because he could see them all frowning.

Make yourselves at home, the coffee is on", Will added. Then he realized that actually it wasn't. "I'll just go through to the kitchen and get things moving", he hurried off.

He quickly filled his kettle with water and was hurrying to put it on the counter when he banged his right arm against the hard surface. Intense pain shot through his whole arm making him feel light headed. He was thankful that he could still hear the others voices talking so he would not have to explain why he felt like he was going to pass out. Leaning himself against the counter he closed his eyes and tried to shke off the pain. Don't actually pass out he told himself, that would lead to complications that he might not be able to deal with.

He leaned a little more against the counter, still feeling the intense pain in his arm. What the heck had Clint done to him, the bastard. He was not supposed to leave marks on his body but nevertheless he seemed to always come away scarred. "Brandt, are you alright", he had been so focused upon the pain that he had missed the fact Ethan was no longer talking to the others.

He was in fact now standing behind him. Okay, force your eyes open and act normal, he told himself.

Ethan had left the others and padded softly into the kitchen intending to help Brandt with the coffee. What he had found was his ghostly pale team mate leaning against a counter and looking like he was about to fall on the floor any second. He flt a wave of concern rise up within him, what was wrong with Brandt.

"Do you need to lie down, or something", Ethan asked softly as he gently touched Brandt's back.

Will opened his eyes and stood still finally feeling the pain recede somewhat. "No, No, I am fine Ethan, just over celebrated a friends birthday last night", he lied glibly.

Ethan, moved over slightly to face Brandt evaluating him soberly. The explaination was a plausible one, and he was about to chastise his agent for over indulging when Will moved his right arm a little, lifting his sleeve upward and revealing black bruises covering its surface. The bruising looked nasty and from the indentations that Ethan could see, was most likely caused by someone grabbing him."What happened', he asked seriously as he moved forward to touch Will's arm lightly.

Will felt Ethans touch, soft and gentle, not like Clint's had been. Yet it still provoked the memory of what his twin had done to him and so he over reacted. "Get your hands off me", his voice was intense, mean, like he was talking to an enemy and not a friend. Ethan Hunt actually went a little pale and stepped back.

Ethan was shocked, he had never heard Brandt use that tone before. There was a look in his eye of danger and fear that told Ethan he should not touch him again.

Oh no , thought Will, now he had given Hunt an excuse to question further. Quickly Will told him the rest of the lie. "'A guy at the party was a little drunk and grabbed me", he told Ethan. Ethan frowned, Will knew that fighting with civilians could lead to trouble with Hunley. Agents with their superior fighting skills could easily misuse them and their were definite codes of conduct that they had to comply with. If Will had hit back and it was reported he could be brought up on charges. As though he could read his team leaders mind Will stated, "I did not retaliate , Ethan so he has no cause to complain to anyone".

Ethan did not immediately reply as he was studying the bruises with an appraising glance. He could see by the darkness of the bruising that whoever had injured Brandt had applied a lot of force. Did drunks at parties do that, Ethan doubted it. Brandt's tone was convincing and he could most likely sell that story to anyone else. Yet he knew Brandt was lying. The way he had reacted when he touched told him that. It also told him that someone had hurt Brandt deliberately and with malice.

He looked at Will earnestly and decided to tell him what was on his mind. "I don't believe you", he said firmly. "You're reaction when I touched you was over the top Will, someone has done this deliberately". You need to tell me what is going on", Ethan said that in his best I am the boss voice. He expected that Will would comply and they would get things sorted out.

Will swallowed feeling the full force of Ethan's concern and for one brief second he felt like confessing. But then his resolve stiffened and he found this harsh voice he did not know he owned stating, "I do not need to tell you anything Ethan". "It has nothing to do with you and nothing to do with IMF. So just leave it". He said the words while looking Ethan directly in the eye unflinching .

Ethan heard the determination in Brandt's voice and knew he'd get nothing further. He felt like Brandt had just slipped a little bit further away. If things went on like this he knew the agent would be removed from his team. Brandt would either request the move or else he do it himself.

Nothing had been the same after Rogue nation.

They may have defeated the Syndicate but it felt like they may have lost more than he had first realized. As Brandt turned his back on him and he slipped out of the kitchen to join the others he wondered if it was possible to reclaim his team, to go back to what they were. Maybe it was not and although he may mourn for that, he would have to go forward and perhaps for the first time in awhile have a new team.

That fact should not bother him, he'd been around long enough to know that it was just business if team mates were changed. Yet it did bother him because he had something good and you don't just give up easily on that. Whatever happened he vowed to try and keep his team together no matter what.

He could not know that the storm clouds were already gathering , dark and frightening in intensity. Something bad was coming and there would be very little he could do to stop it…..


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- gathering clouds

Will's apartment

Jane Carter sat in the comfortable yet boring chair and reflected upon how much the team had changed since she had been gone. She still felt the coldness upon her skin that had been her reaction to hearing what had happened on the last mission. She could not help sneak glances over at Benji who sat staring at the walls and only contributed to the conversation when he was asked a direct question. Ethan too had seemed shaken, and that was rare for him. His heart had actually stopped on the mission, so technically he'd died, how do you come back from staring death in the face that closely she wondered. Though knowing Ethan he was the one who would recover the quickest.

Then of course there was Brandt who seemed to more like the shaky analyst he used to be than an experienced agent. She watched as he came out of the kitchen area and put coffee upon the table before retreating back. Benji, and Luther had both looked at him, but Ethan had not. Their team leader had come back from the kitchen a short time ago saying nothing and just sat on a chair. She did not need to ask to know something had happened between Brandt and Ethan.

Brandt reappeared with a plate filled with cakes and then placed himself on a chair closest to her yet farthest from Ethan. Jane looked at the cakes and felt her eyebrow rise, she had expected something bought from the nearest shop, yet these looked home made. She took one and put it in her mouth and her eyes widened as the delectable taste hit her system. 'Wow, Will these are heavenly", she remarked.

For the first time Will felt himself smile. That smile broadened when the others all took a cake and made similar comments. Benji ended up eating three cakes and Luther had actually managed four. Ethan Hunt surprised himself by eating as many as Luther. He wondered if Will had made them as he had never given any indication that he was a good cook. "Did you make these", Jne asked ,obviously thinking the same thing. Will blushed slightly knowing there was going to be a comment from them when he said, 'they are from a lady friend". Jane grinned widely, "I must get the recipe", she remarked. "Sure", Will acknowledged greatful nothing else had been said. He guessed though that Jane knew from looking around this place that the was no woman living here full time.

Conversation faded off again, as they all settled contentedly back into their chairs. Ethan could see that this was indeed relaxing, Jane, Benji and Luther. Brandt though looked weary and tired. "So when do you think we will get another mission", Jane slipped the question out casually. The affect it had though, was like storm clouds on a sunny day. Benji got up, out off the chair and paced over to the window, his body broadcasting sudden tension. Brandt also got up, but covered his unease by simply returning the coffee and cake to the kitchen. Ethan looked at both of them, then back at Jane. She was now biting her lip.

"I have a meeting with Hunley tomorrow", Ethan told her. "We will see what he had in store for me".

Of course Ethan did not feel relaxed around the new secretary yet, as the man had tried to hunt him down and kill him. After showing him what they could do at least Hunley did now respect the talent within his newly acquired IMF teams and would make use of that talent.

It was not long after that that they all drifted away with Benji the first to leave, followed by Jane and Luther. Ethan hung around for a moment just to tell his team mate, "Brandt if you need help, you know where to find it", then he left.

William Brandt slumped into a chair and blew out of breath of relief. So far his act was shaky, yet working. He would have to keep it up though and knew that was only going to get harder.

For now he too had to prepare himself for going back to work, though for him that meant as an analyst and not an agent. He had not told Ethan about that yet. He guessed Hunley would tomorrow.

Xxxxxx

Clint's home

In another state Natasha Romonoff was walking through a deserted farmhouse. The walls had been sprayed with different colours of paint and the floor was littered with broken furniture and rotting food scraps. Clint and Laura's home had been trashed. She could tell from the boot impressions that it had probably been some sort of troops that had done the damage. She kicked a pile of cans up angrily, how dare they do that.

Sharp worry gnawed at her insides, she hoped Clint , Laura and the children were safe.

She could no longer contact Clint on his number as it had been disconnected. But perhaps Laura's had not. Very few people would know Laura Bartons cell phone number and Tony Stark was definitely not on the list.

She dialed the number. "Hello", Laura sounded stressed. "Laura its Nat", Natasha said simply. 'Nat, thank goodness you are alright. I was worried about you", Laura stated. Natasha smiled, if Clint had said she had been on the opposite side to him it had not affected his wife's opinion of her. The next words though shot fear straight through her. "A lot of worries were going through my mind. Then I though of you and decided that's where Clint must be. Can I talk to him", Laura asked.

Natasha suddenly did not know what to say and unfortunately Laura Barton picked up upon that fact. "He's not there, is he Nat. I knew something else was going on", she said. "Something else like what Laura. He was in the raft then Steve got him out. I thought he'd come home after that",Nat told her.

"So did I Nat, but he has not which tells me that he is involved in something he does not want us to know about", Laura replied. Natasha could clearly hear her voice become shaky as she concluded, "I am scared Nat".

Natasha forgot all about her and Clint being on opposite sides of an argument. She had not seriously been trying to hurt him at the airport and he had also been pulling his punches. Still she had known that there would be fallout for both of them. "I will find him Laura and after smacking him for scaring you so much I will make sure he comes home", Natasha vowed.

She hung up and looked speculatively around the trashed home. She doubted Clint would leave any obvious clues here as to his current whereabouts. But she knew him a lot better than most people, so perhaps there was something not so obvious. What ever it took she was going to find out what Clint was doing.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

IMF headquarters undisclosed location

Ethan Hunt sat in the secretaries office and looked around him . Hunley had already personalized the place to his own taste. He stood up as Secretary Hunley entered and waited for the man to invite him to sit down again. "So Hunt, I guess I should get the air clear and apologise for sending that hit squad after you", Hunley told him. Ethan nodded, "you were doing what you perceived to be the best thing at the time. If I had been rogue, you would have been within your rights to take the actions you did". I too had to do what I thought was right too, as did my team". There that should tell Hunley that he was okay with the actions of everyone upon the mission.

"Your team", Hunley repeated the words. "It seems like you don't have much of one left", he continued.

Ethan felt his ire rise even though he knew it was not wise. "It was a difficult mission and there is bound to be fallout from that. My team is still the best there is", Ethan said it confidently.

Hunley nodded, he had after all witnessed how good these agents were. They had managed to successfully turn the tables on him and gain the upper hand back. He was not in the least bit angry about that, more like impressed. These were a different calibre of agents than he was used to in the CIA. From the whispers with IMF , he knew what Ethan Hunt said was not ego it was the truth. Ethan Hunt, was considered the best agent IMF had ever had, and his current team the most successful combination.

Yet now that team was fractured. "Dunn will take awhile to regain the confidence he has lost", Hunley told Ethan. "I know, yet he will get it back. He just needs a little time", Ethan stated."Time or perhaps the right incentives, I agree with you there. He will rejoin your team. "You can also have Jane Carter, back in your team I don't have a problem with that", Hunley continued. Okay Ethan thought, he's mentioned two, so far so good. Onto the next one, "what about Brandt", he asked. Hunley pursed his lips, "he is back working as the chief analyst", he stated.

Now that was a shock. Brandt had not mentioned that over coffee and cake. Of course he knew that would have just led to a debate and that was obviously not what he wanted. "Brandt is a fine, agent, I trust him one hundred percent", Ethan told Hunley firmly." He needs to be in the field and not stuck in some office somewhere".

Hunley said nothing for a moment, then told Ethan, "I agree about being in the field Hunt, though he is a superb analyst.", He looked Ethan in the eye, "the question I have is not about whether you trust him, it is does he trust you." Hunley was echoing the same concerns Luther had. Ethan was about to reply when Hunley raised his hand. "At the moment I am keeping him where he is. There is an issue there Hunt and it needs to be resolved before he is put back into the field".

Unlike Benji Brandt was less open with Ethan. It was obvious that Benji had been traumatized after the last mission. He knew they all had been. But Brandt shut his worries in behind a mask and they festered away. Ethan guessed that deep down he still doubted himself as an agent. Hunley was correct in keeping him out of the field if that was the case as doubts could not only be fatal to him, but to people around him. He hoped that Brandt would open up to people outside the team and talk about what was going on in his mind.

"So moving on Hunt", Hunley stated firmly. "I have a task for you".

Ethan could imagine what it was, teaching new agents, or some other menial task that would keep him occupied until he was ready to leave IMF. Even though Hunley seemed to agree about the team, he was still sidelining them.

But his next words paralysed Ethan, "go talk to Lane". Hunley was watching Ethan and saw the slight reaction. Lane had been one of the agents toughest opponents and Ethan Hunt was still shaking off the effects of their encounter. He would do his job though, Hunley had no doubt about that.

"Why", Ethan finally asked after a moment of shutting out all the swirling thoughts going through his head. "I just want your impressions at this stage", Hunley told him. "After you talk to him, I want you to review this", he placed a flash drive and a brown file on his desk. "Once you have done that come back and talk to me again", Hunley concluded.

Ethan took the drive and folder off the table without further comment. Then he stood up and left the secretaries office without saying goodbye. He did not see Hunley's brief smile .

Benji met him half way down the corridor. His face was pale and eyes red, he had most likely come from a counseling session.

"Hey Benji", Ethan said casually. He was not going to tell Benji anything about his latest task from Hunley. Benji moved past him quickly then stopped in front of him. "I want to be the one who talks to Lane", he said in a firm voice. Ethan felt his mouth drop open , how did Benji know what he was going to do. Then he remembered Hunley saying that Benji may need the right incentive to return to the field. Their new secretary obviously thought that Benji seeing Lane again may just help him heal and had told him about Ethan's task. He decided that Hunley may just be onto something. "Alright, you can come with me. Then after that we will collect Jane and go through this file together. I don't know why Hunley has set us this task but it feels important", Ethan told him. As yet this was not a mission. Hunley was only asking for a review. But even mentioning Lane's name had Ethan feeling like he was in a cold sweat.

This maybe about more than just therapy.

The trip to visit Lane in the maximum security facility was not a long one. Ethan and Benji both talked about trivialities on the way in order to limit any anxiety feelings. Lane was a master at manipulating feelings and would use that sort of thing against them. Words were the only way he could hurt them now, yet even those could have a damaging effect.

Lane was behind a thick plastic wall, not unlike the cage they had trapped him in, just a little bigger.

He had been pacing up and down in that cell until he saw Ethan and Benji, then he stopped. "Well", he said in that soft gravelly voices, "I did not expect a visit so soon". He came close to the thick plastic and stared Benji right in the face, "how are the nightmares going Agent Dunn. Do you wake up screaming as you see yourself and others explode ,over and over".

Benji had been mentally preparing himself for this moment ever since Hunley had casually told him Ethan's task. He had only a moments hestitation about seeing Lane again. The man was a captive now and could do no more to him. Maybe it would help him to see him like that.

But if he thought that Lane would seem helpless then he was mistaken, the man stood tall and confident with that smile that grated upon ones nerves after awhile. Benji stood his tallest as well and let Lane see his shakes. He should not really care if this man knew he had touched a nerve. Benji was proud that he could feel and not be like the man in front of him. 'Sure I do", he told Lane. "But they will not last forever, unlike your predicament".

Ethan smothered a smile at that. "Nice Dunn", Lane replied sarcastically without taking the smirk of his face. He looked at both of them, "so why are you here, therapy", he pointed to Benji. "Does it help to see me like this", Lane came over to stand directly in front of Benji. But when Benji did not move he took one step back. Benji smiled at that and stated "it does". Lane laughed loudly. "So my victors have come to see their defeated captive, to celebrate victory. Are you happy to be the best there is again Hunt", Lane stated. Then he added, 'are you sure you are".

"He's better than you and what's left of the syndicate. We know who all of them are and they cannot hide from us". So you can wipe your smirk off your face", Benji had raised his voice somewhat.

"We know who you are as well Dunn", Lane retorted calmly. "You have a much too inflated opinion of yourselves. There may be some things even your mighty leader cannot control. Perhaps I should have made sure he could never intervene in the first place and used poison gas instead of knockout. Yes , I admit I underestimated you. I would not do it again", Lane concluded.

"Well I hope you enjoy plotting our demise from behind your cell walls", Benji stated calmly again. "I am going to go and enjoy the nice day outside, with my friends". He turned to Ethan, "I have said all I need to say. Shall we get out of here".

Ethan nodded. He looked over at Lane who was studying him frankly with a smirk. His attitude had not changed at all over the time they were here. He was not the type to let them see any weakness.

"Goodbye Lane", Ethan stated. "Oh goodbye Hunt, I doubt we will meet again", Lane stated. The way he said it sounded more definite than just Ethan not coming to visit again. "You cannot touch me ,my friends or anyone in IMF", Ethan reminded him firmly. "The syndicate is finished Lane, but IMF is not".

Lane just smirked even wider. 'You cannot stop everything Hunt and neither can IMF", was his last comment.

Ethan left quickly not looking back at Lane, he caught up with Benji . "Are you okay", he asked softly. Benji nodded, "It was hard, yet it did help me to see him like that, though he is still a smug bastard, even in defeat."

"Yes, he is", Ethan agreed as he tried to shake off the feelings Lane had left within him. There was still this sour taste in his mouth though that would not go away."Now we have that part over why don't we see what is on that flashdrive. We will goto my place and ring Jane from there", Ethan told his frined. Benji let silence fall for awhile companionably walking alongside Ethan. When he thought the silence had stretched long enough he asked, "we are not calling Brandt to come and join us as well". Ethan shook his head, "Hunley says there is an issue there. I am not sure it is anything to do with the last mission either, Brandt is not the forthcoming type", Ethan remarked.

"He has been a little quiet. Then there is all those bruises he seems to end up with", Benji said thoughtfully. Ethan stared , he had not thought anyone else had noticed the bruising on Brandts arm during their morning tea. "Yeah I asked him how he brusied his arm at our get together. He lied then basically told me to mind my own business when I called him out about the lie", Ethan told Benji. "I was not talking about the morning tea, I didn't notice anything then. It was about 1 week ago. I caught him in the bathroom at IMF changing his shirt because it had blood around by the stomach area. He looked like he might have been in a fight. When I made a comment he told me to 'bloody well keep out of his business" and he was super ninja scary, never seem him like that before", Benji replied. "Shit, you should have told me Benji, it is obvious something is going on with him. Maybe I will have to corner him again and threaten to report him if he does not tell me what the heck he has been doing", Ethan mused. "I hope it does not come to the reporting part Ethan, might not be so good if he is doing something IMF would not approve. Maybe just try to talk to him again. Out of all of us, you have the best chance to get something out of him", Benji told him.

Ethan hoped he could get the answer from Brandt.

By the time they got to his apartment, Jane was already waiting. They had to go through the Brandt story again before settling down to review the file from the secretary.

A lot of information popped up onto the screen in front of them. "This looks like 3 separate incidences that have been given to us for analysis', Ethan remarked. "In each case there has been a death of a fairly important person". Benji was looking through the notes. "the computer chose these deaths because they resembled those carried out by members of the syndicate. However none of the people present at the time of the deaths match those on file as syndicate members".

Ethan was swallowing hard as he looked at them most recent file. "The deputy minister of defence died in this occasion .He was in a high security locked room on his own when the assassination occurred. There were approximately 5 other people present in the area, all possessing top level security clearance. The room and surrounding area also possessed high grade security monitoring systems including mask detectors. So no impersonators could have gotten into the are ", Ethan stated.  
"Then perhaps one of the 5 other people was paid to kill him. It does happen", Jane remarked. "It does", Ethan agreed. "But the security measures included tracking those 5 individuals continually. Not one of them entered the room."

"Hmm, that is a fairly clever hit then", Benji remarked. "Who could carry out such a hit",Ethan asked.

"You'd have to have high level expertise, like an agent or…"Benji broke off and felt himself go pale. "Hunley had us visit Lane for a reason. Then he gives us this file. It is fairly obvious what he is asking".

"Is the syndicate really dead", Ethan said. "Yes we have the lists of all known members but what if there are others not on that list. It would explain Lanes cocky attitude", he concluded. ""What about the comment that there are some things either you or IMF cannot deal with", Benji asked, "it kind of sounded like he already had made plans". "Lane can do nothing from within a cell", Ethan stated firmly. "But that does not mean someone else cannot. I do not know why he made that comment about IMF or me , It gives me this horrible feeling", Ethan told them seriously. "He is an arrogant man, he could just be playing you", Jane stated.

"Yes, he could, but this file tells me that something is going on". It looks like the syndicate is not as dead as we thought", Ethan concluded. They all felt the shivers at that statement.

"So what do we do, get more information from Lane", Jane asked. "He won't tell us and I think in his case persuasion is going to take a long time. Perhaps he does not even know names himself. It would be safer that way". No if we want any answers we are going to have to find them ourselves", Ethan remarked.

"How", Benji asked seriously surprising himself that he felt no doubts about facing the syndicate again. No matter what had happened to him deep down was a resolve to not let Lane or the syndicate win and quitting would do that.

"We have this file, and it has comprehensive information. Whoever put it together has laid out the positions of all the players for us. Now all we have to do is find out how those assassinations were carried out. That might tell give us a clue as to the identities of the person or persons responsible. If there were only 5 other people in present in the area at the time of the assassination then one of them has to be the killer", Ethan stated as he turned the playback to the beginning again.

"We are going to go over every thing in this file. Then we are going to give our answer to Hunley and put an end to another syndicate", Ethan said it like that promise it was.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3- together yet apart

Clint's former home

Natasha gingerly lifted another piece of rotten food to look underneath. She was trying to think of any possible place Clint could have hidden information on his whereabouts and under something disgusting was a possibility. Of course she was counting on the fact that Clint had returned here after being released from the raft . Since it was possible the government troops that had trashed the place would also return to look for him he'd have to be very careful about leaving clues behind. As she opened one of the children's bedroom doors to look inside another wave of disgust at the people who had done this rose up. On the bed were the bodies of some stuffed animals, their innards tossed around the room with careless regard to the fact they had been beloved friends. The message to Clint was clear, how dare you defy orders ,come out of retirement, refuse to sign the accords and side with Steve Rogers. It did not matter that he had served faithfully for years, one choice seemed to have erased any goodwill toward Clint.

Natasha felt hot tears upon her face as she cuddled one stuffing free bunny close. This had been a very personal trashing. She scanned the room, noting that while the troops had destroyed things they had not stolen electronic items. A tablet lay on the floor, its screen marred by a crack. She was about to dismiss it, like everything else in the room as being nothing important when she noticed it was painted purple. This was Clint's favourite colour, a little fact not known to that many. When she picked it up, she noted the purple stained her fingers, it had been done recently. Pushing the button on the side, she held her breath until the screen lit up. All that was on there were various games, it all looked perfectly innocent.

Looking over the games Natasha noticed one where arrows were shot at apples in various different locations. She had never seen that game before, so opened it. After a moment of playing she decided it was just another normal game. About to put the tablet down again, Natasha looked at the score on the game. It was a extremely high score, so perhaps it was Clint and not his kids who was amusing himself . She almost smiled at that thought. Clint had done extremely well and probably annoyed his children who would try and fail to best their father. The score flashed for moment and Nastaha looked at it. It was long, could you even get that high on games like this. Of course it was ridiculous but it occurred to her that perhaps this was not a score. To test her theory she got out her phone and typed the numbers.

After moment of silence where she was convinced her idea was a mad one, a ring tone sounded.

One minute passed then two as Natasha listened to the ringing. Then finally she heard a familiar voice say, "hello Nat". "Clint thank goodness, did you know Laura is worried sick. Where the heck are you", she demanded. Clint Barton was on the side of a lonely road pulled up under some trees. "You don't need to know where I am Nat. I am busy", he told her firmly. 'Busy, doing what. You were supposed to go home to your wife and kids Clint", Natasha told him firmly. "Yeah well I didn't, you obviously know that. I have something else to do", Clint said. "Something else, how can you Clint, you've been locked up", Natasha could hardly believe this conversation. "I still need to feed my wife and kids Nat, and as you may recall I don't have a job anymore. Well not an approved one anyway", there was a heavy dose of cynicism in his voice. Natasha could feel her palms go sweaty. "Clint it is not safe for you out there. If you get caught they'll put you back in the raft, and this time they'll make sure Steve can't get you out", Nat said firmly. She did not know why he was being like this. "As I said Nat I need to make sure my kids can eat", Clint replied. Natasha strained her ears, trying to get any clues about where Clint could be. He would be smart enough to use a burn phone so he could not be traced. There was nothing in the background though, no traffic noise that said he was in a city. As she listened she heard a sound, ringing, it told her Clint had more than one phone. "Clint when you say you need to provide for your family what do you mean", she asked. "Well I can't do anything legal now, Nat and I only have one particular set of skills, work it out", that was almost a snap from Clint. Natasha felt fear fill her as she had the horrible feeling Clint had just told her he now sold his skills to whoever had money to pay him. 'Clint, if you use your abilities in a way that gets you on the radar of law enforcement, it is only going to make things worse. Think about what you are doing. Come and meet me, we will have a talk, work things out. Its not that bad Clint', she pleaded. In the background that other phone kept ringing. "I have to go now Nat", Clint told her bluntly. It sounded like her words had no effect. "Look after yourself" , for the first time she heard the emotion in his voice, then he rung off. Natasha started to swear in different languages.

When he storm of anger had abated she took the tablet and smashed it hard against the ground. No matter what Clint was doing, she was not going to do anything that would deliberately lead him to getting caught. She vowed to find him before the authorities did. However he would probably only surface when he used his skills in a non ethical manner. That would mean the authorities would be right behind him. She would just have to get to him first and drag him back to his wife. Perhaps she might have to actually fight him for real this time. She had not thought Clint would be a jerk and go off and use his assassin's skills for an illegal purpose. But perhaps being locked up had affected him in some way. All she really knew was that she had to stop him.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Will's apartment

Will had just arrived home from another day at the office. He had been tense all day half expecting Ethan to come and yell at him. It had not happened, but he suspected it was only a matter of time.

He stripped off his suit and put on a track suit. Then he lounged in one of his chairs and stared at the ceiling. Thankfully his arm had finally stopped throbbing, though it was still black and would hurt if he banged it against something. Outside darkness was falling and he found the darkness oddly comforting.

That comfort disappeared when he heard his phone ring. Moving over to his discarded suit he removed the phone from his pocket and looked at the screen. He felt himself tense as he saw the instructions there. He had to go back to the testing place again. They were pushing him harder now, decreasing the amount of time between each visit. If he got beat up again so soon it was going to be even harder to hide.

Still he did not think about ignoring the summons. Getting out of the chair he went for a minute into his bedroom and looked around. He needed to find somewhere to hide his IMF phone as he could not take it with him. Leaving the phone was of course a violation of orders. It hardly mattered since he had already done things that were against the code IMF had drilled into him.

He did need to know though that the phone was safe. So once he had secured it in a super sneaky place he left.

He knew that Clint too would be on route to the testing place and hoped that this time they would not meet.

Xxxxxxx

Ethans' apartment

Ethan rubbed his eyes and stretched as he tried to get his exhausted mind to keep working. All that happened was a giant yawn that mde his jaw crack audibly. Around him the others were lounging on chairs in various states of sleepiness. They had been working for hours and had yet to come up with a solution to how the three assassinations were carried out.

They had discarded the first two files of information on the first two kills and focused upon the third one as it was the most comprehensive. In fact it was so well put together that it almost bothered Ethan. This file had been laid out like a mission, giving all the facts necessary for agents to take over. Yet there was no mission.

"Come on Hunt, you can work it out", he told himself. This is the work of the syndicate, it was meant to be good .Lane's words to him were still resonating around in his head, "you cannot solve everything and neither can IMF". So the man obviously thought they had a method of killing people that they would not be able to counter. What could that be.

He put the playback of the information back a little, intending to study the final moments of the ministers life. As he froze the image on the screen he noticed something he had not before, the code of the analyst who had put the information together. They tended to imbed their code in the files so that agents could directly request more information or clarify points before undertaking the mission. He should have guessed who had put this last file together, not the same person as the other two, he could tell. It was a person with a unique perspective, an agent as well as an analyst. Of course it had been Will.

It also followed that if he put the information together then he had known or could have guessed who was responsible for the assassination. So was Will afraid of facing the syndicate again, was that why he was acting so weird. Perhaps he was even doing something stupid like street fighting to try and prove he still had what it took to take out the enemy.

Ethan could see that Will would do something like that and it would certainly fit in with his injuries. Not thinking any further Ethan pulled out his phone and dialed Will's number. It rang and rang before going to voice mail. Ethan was not going to accept that. Will would have seen his caller ID come up and known who was on the other end. So perhaps he had just not taken the call. He needed to go and visit him.

Shaking Benji, Ethan quickly told him. "Brandt put together the information on that last assassination, I am going to talk to him. Keep working while I am away. See if you can solve our puzzle".

Benji just nodded not asking for any more information. He too guessed he should have known Brandt's analyst handiwork when he saw it.

Perhaps Ethan would come back with him and they would finally be a team again.

He returned to the file. It had given him a headache thinking up totally insane ways to kill someone. There of course was no proof of any specific method. "May be we need to think in simpler terms", Jane said as she stretched herself and came to join him. She went over to the chess set Ethan kept on a desk and selected six pieces. She put the king in the middle of a circle and 5 pieces around the outside.

"Okay you have to take the king without anyone knowing it is you. All of these players are on the outside monitored, so how do you do it",she asked. Benji looked at the chess pieces. "It is almost like a magic trick", he mused. "You know, you are watching these 5 pieces while something else is happening, slight of hand". "Hmm I think you are onto something there Benji", Jane congratulated him. "So it's a trick of some kind that even fooled the cameras. We have seen magic on TV before and been convinced it is real. Magicians never reveal their secrets, yet we know magic is not real, it is just made to look like it is, to fool our senses." She looked over at the pieces, "the answer is right in front of us, yet we cannot see what it is".

Benji studied the pieces determined to find the answer and impress Ethan with his brilliance. His mind was at that moment though still coming up with nothing.

Xxx

Ethan did not bother to knock on Will's door as he knew he could refuse to answer and just leave him standing out here. He reached inside his clothing and pulled out an IMF issue lock pick. For a moment he wondered why he kept things like that on him at all times. But then again they always came in handy, like right now. The door now opened in his grasp and he stepped inside Will's apartment. It was dark inside and Ethan had to grope along the wall to find the light switch. Flicking it on revealed no immediate sign of his colleague. The bedroom door was firmly closed though so Ethan guessed Will might be sleeping. He hated to creep up on him as it might just trigger a violent reaction. So he did knock on the bedroom door loudly. When he got no reply he sighed. Surely Will was not hiding under the covers being afraid of even talking to him. He would know nobody else would get in here and be hammering on his door. "Alright then I am coming in", he announced loudly as he opened the door.

Inside it was almost pitch black, Will must have black out curtains. He had to grope along the wall again then flick on the light switch. The brightness revealed the lack of anyone in the bed or anywhere else.

On the bed the covers were pulled down, yet the sheets sat perfectly with not a crease to indicate anyone had slept there. So Will had not gone to sleep. Where was he. Ethan pulled out his IMF phone and dialed Will. This was one summons his colleague could not ignore and he expected Will would answer . Seconds later the quietness of the room was interrupted by a very faint ring tone. Ethan found himself beginning to feel very concerned. No agent was supposed to be without his phone while on duty for any reason. Yet it was obvious that Will's phone was here when he was not. The ringing broke off then and Ethan redialed the number. He would have to find the phone before it stopped again. The fact the phone was not in sight should be telling him something. But he was not sure what.

There we no signs Will had been taken forcefully . Ethan knew he would most definitely put up a fight if that happened. Plus the phone would not be hidden, yes that was what he had thought of before. Hiding the phone was planned and deliberate, not a rushed method. Any kidnapper would have not given Will long enough to take a measure like that. The ring tone sounded again and Ethan quickly honed in on where it was coming from, Will's closet. He quickly opened the door and pushed aside clothing . His hands found a small crevice under one of Will's shoes and pulled it open. Inside lay Will's IMF phone. He saw his name and number listed on the screen before it went black again. Ethan put the phone in his pocket.

It looked like Will had decided to go somewhere and was making sure nobody could follow him. Dammit he should have come to pressure Will before this, because it looked like he had left things too late. Not really knowing what he was looking for Ethan began to rummage through the closet. Will's suits hung there, neat and tidy, looking normal. He could not tell if any clothing items were missing.

Moving onto those items of clothing with pockets Ethan looked for any clues to Will's where abouts. Will really did have the most boring suits, he decided. All of them were in the same style and many were the same colour. Some of them were almost…, suddenly the answer to the puzzle over how the assassinations were done hit him. He should immediately leave and go and tell the others. The syndicate was afterall more important than Will. Yet he kept searching, through pockets and then down in Will's shoes. He was just thinking that all of them were rather uniform too when he noticed a new shoe box in the corner of the closet. Inside he found a brand new pair of running shoes. Taking them out he noticed that one side of the shoe box looked a little larger than the other. It was not a fact many people would notice or even comment upon as it looked completely natural, like a manufactures' fault. Taking out his car keys, he ran the sharp edge along the top of the box. Looking closely he could see something small nestled between the cardboard. He pulled it out gently and looked. It appeared just to be an old piece of paper, until he turned it over. Ethan suddenly found his mouth feeling very dry. Placing the paper securely in his pocket he decided he needed to leave now.

Quickly locking up Will's place he hurriedly drove back to the others.

Jane had given up on the puzzle and was pacing around Ethan's living room. She was not really thinking about what she was doing which was why she bumped his desk and spilled the remaining chess pieces all over the floor. Some rolled under the desk while others seemed to behave more like missiles and go a lot further. "Oh bother", she swore. Benji came over to help her. "It's alright it is easy to clean up", he bent over the pieces looking down at them. Then suddenly he straightened. 'So that is how they did it", he said. "Bloody Lane was right, there is no way we can involve ourselves in this". He is oh so clever." Jane looked at Benji's feet and understood what he was saying.

She too knew there was very little they could do to counter the syndicates latest plan. All they could do was tell Ethan they had figured out the answer.

Their team leader came in about 10 minutes later looking angry. "Did you and Brandt quarrel", Jane asked nervously . "No, there was no sign of Brandt at his place. I did find this though", he placed Brandt's phone on the table. It lay there taunting them all with what it meant. "He's going to be in big trouble", Benji stated, 'what on earth is he thinking." "Its obvious he's not thinking ", Jane told Benji. "He's going to have to explain things to Hunley though".

Ethan said nothing ,his hand was in his pocket gripping the piece of paper like it was the last link to his colleague.

"He's gone", he finally said , "and I guess the phone is telling us that he's not coming back".

"What, come on Ethan, Brandt would not just go off without telling anyone. He would know you would worry", Benji stated. 'Yeah especially since preparing that file means he knew about this new syndicate", Jane stated. She paused deciding that Will had most likely wanted them to find the phone and what that meant. "Has he just run away then, rather than explaining why he wants nothing to do with finding them", she said sadly

Ethan looked down at the phone. "We need to talk to Hunley". I will have to tell him about Will. Then I will also tell him how the assassinations were carried out, it occurred to me while I was at Wills place ", Ethan told them.

"I know too , Benji said proudly. "We both do", Jane added. She sighed, "it is too bad about Brandt. I guess we go on with the three of us".

Ethan still said nothing though he still looked angry. "Lets go and see Hunley. He went over to the laptop where the files were still displayed. Jane and Benji had frozen the images as well and it was only then that Ethan realized something else about the file.

He pulled out the flashdrive without comment though and angrily stomped out the door. Jane and Benji guessed he was angry with Brandt for abandoning them.

Ethan drove in a fast yet safe manner to the IMF HQ. He had called ahead and requested HUnley meet them, saying it was urgent. It was now getting on into night and he would have probably gotten the secretary out of bed.

The man did not look particularly rumpled as he escorted them to his office.

"So I take it from the urgent status of this call that you have figured out how the assassinations were carried out", Hunley began. "Yes we did", Ethan confirmed. "However, before I go onto that I want to say that there were a few things about one particular file that bothered me". Hunley nodded, sagely and Benji began to wonder if he already knew what Ethan was going to say. "The file on the third assassination was comprehensive, just like you would prepare for a mission."

"Yes well that one is easy to explain Ethan", Benji interrupted,of course they would give these deaths an indepth analysis and after 3 deaths in similar manners, the files would be prepared for a mission. Yet without knowing how the deaths were carried out, no mission could be authorized. Even now we do know, we still can't act. This was a clever move by the syndicate", Benji concluded.

"Yes, because they know everything about us", Ethan stated, he waited a second before adding, "or do they". Hunley was saying nothing just sitting eyeballing Ethan.

"There is something else about that file I just noticed. It is almost 1 month old. Thus all the information is practically useless as the syndicate would have moved its players on, or be using different ones. So I have to ask myself why the delay in giving us the files. It is almost as if you knew we would find out the results, yet were delaying us for some reason", Ethan accused. Benji found himself gasping along with Jane. Ethan's tone was still angry and it was directed purely at Hunley. The secretary did not flinch though, stating simply' go on".

Benji interrupted again , before Ethan could get more heated over whatever slight he perceived Hunley had done. "Look Ethan it does not matter. We know how it was done and can't do anything. Lane knew that too which is why he was such a smug bastard".

"Yes this is an exclusive club of assassins Ethan and we can't gain entry", Jane backed Benji up.

"Can't we", Ethan countered. "I think that last file was a mission and it is already underway. We have been kept in the dark so we cannot interfere. "Hell, Hunley what have you done", Ethan swore.

Benji actually laughed, "it is ridiculous Ethan, you know we can't do anything. We don't have the agents necessary for this".

For a response Ethan put a photo on the table. " This is one thing the syndicate does not know. I certainly did not know it until just a while ago. "We can be involved in this mission Benji", Ethan stated.

"Come on Ethan IMF does not have identical twin agents. That is how it was done, was it not. There had to be two of one of those 5 people. It is like a magic trick where you watch one card and never realize there is another identical one in the pack. Getting identical trained assassins would be difficult yet it looks like the syndicate has achieved that. We have no idea what they look like either. To findout you would have to have someone infiltrate the syndicate and only identical twins would be eligible for this group", Benji wound down.

Ethan looked at Hunley and repeated , "how could you". Hunely held his stare, "I did what I have to do, Hunt and so did he", he replied

Benji and Jane exchanged clueless looks. "What is this about Ethan", Benji asked. Then Ethan Hunt told him the thing he had never expected. "Will Brandt is an identical twin".

Benji laughed again, "that's ridiculous Ethan", he proclaimed. He turned to Hunley expecting the secretary to be laughing as well. "The man just said quite calmly, "he is absolutely correct".


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4- locked together

William Brandt lay strapped to the metal bed again, staring at the ceiling above him. He noticed all the small holes in that ceiling, as well as the camera that looked down upon him. The big unfriendly giant had gone to monitor him and that meant it was time to move on with the plan and get himself recruited. The tests they'd thrown at him were all unpredictable , yet most he could have completed, awhile ago. He had to time things carefully though, so that Ethan would be one step behind him. It had been difficult to keep the truth from Ethan . But it was part of this mission that he had to play a game with his own team leader and win.

The test he was taking now was the mst difficult, because he had to fail to succeed. This machine monitored your emotions and physical reactions while he watched and listened to different experiences. To fail meant that you did not react, were essentially like a machine. That was no so easy for him to do. He needed to do it though and preferable today. So he shut out all the information going in and made him mind go completely blank.

It seemed like not much time had passed when he heard the big unfriendly giants footsteps return. The man said nothing just marching to him with that syringe in his hand. Will saw him smirk and had no time to prepared himself for the prick. "Congratulations, you get to join us", the giant told him as his senses faded away.

He lay unconscious on the bed while the big unfriendly giant removed the monitoring devices. The giant looked away from Brandt when the door opened and a man joined him. "Check him over thoroughly and if you find anything that can track his position make sure he never wakes up", that man instructed.

Xxxxxx

"They are going to kill him", Ethan Hunt angrily told Alan Hunley. "It does not matter about the twin thing. The syndicate had us all on file and it is likely this shadow group are privy to the same information. They know he works for us".

Beside him Benji and Jane felt tense sensing Ethan was on the verge of a more physical reaction toward their secretary. They still did not know what to think. Hunley just sat calmly yet Jane could see the slight twitch in his face that meant on some level he was reacting to Ethan's words.

"Not long ago you told me you trusted him 100 percent Hunt. Do you not have faith in your colleagues abilities as an agent. He has proved to me that he is capable of standing up to pressure to give up secrets and he is certainly a good liar. Brandt knows how to play others, he kept you at bay for long enough", Hunley remarked.

Ethan sucked in a breath, nothing Hunley said was inaccurate, he just did not like being kept in the dark. He was also thinking of Will, in the midst of a group of highly trained criminals who knew he had worked for their enemy.

He looked at the photo on the Hunley's desk, a picture of Brandt with his parents. He had seen it before in his file. This version had been different from that one in that it featured two children instead of one. He knew the photo was just one of Will's clues left for him to find.

"So that file on the assassination had already been analysed and the solution brought to you before we ever got a look at it", Ethan said sourly, his eyes still on the photo. 'Yes", Hunley agreed. He could feel that the atmosphere of the room was getting calmer and marginally relaxed. "Then of course you only had one agent available for the mission. That information about Brandt's twin must have been buried deep", Ethan stated.

Hunley, looked at the photo. 'I have only ever seen the other version of this Hunt. There is nothing on file that suggests William Brandt has a brother. "

That was a surprise. It was Benji who managed to ask the obvious question first, "so how did you know". "I know agent Dunn because William Brandt told me", Hunley replied. It had been one of those moments that he would remember for a while. Brandt had been standing in front of his desk. He did not look at all relaxed, though he understood why when he came out with, "I have thoroughly analysed the data and come to the conclusion that the syndicate is still active. They have members that are unknown to us". Hunley had felt apprehension fill him, he'd hardly been in this job long and already he was facing a crisis. "We are going to have to put together a mission to stop them, again", he muttered. Brandt now had a look upon his face he could not decipher. Out of all of Hunts team he was the hardest to interpret. As an analyst he had superb skills and Hunley knew it had been him that had kept the IMF going after the previous secretary's death. He was also an agent, and he had been good at that as well. Though reading his file, it seemed to indicate Brandt was a better agent before he met Ethan Hunt.

Hunley wondered about which side of him was stronger. He suspected that as an agent he lived in his team leaders shadow somewhat. It was probable he would be better off in a different team. Hunley though would be reluctant to mess with the best team he had. "I have already put together all the information necessary for a team to take over", Brandt told him. "There is a catch though. I have worked out how the assassinations were carried out. The syndicate have recruited highly trained identical twins. I suggest that it is highly likely that only twins would have access to their group. They have been looking for ways to counter us and believe we don't have the agents necessary for this mission".

Hunley swore loudly. "I hate to do nothing", he remarked. Brandt still had that odd look upon his face. 'IMF can do something", he said. 'What ,have agents impersonate twins", would that work", Hunley asked. 'No, they have to be genuine twins", Brandt had paused, 'I do know where you could get two highly trained twins", he stated

Hunley was surprised, '"people with the skills necessary for this mission", he confirmed. "Yes", Brandt replied. Hunley studied his expression, eyes down, a little sheepish, looking like he was about to reveal something. "Don't tell me that Hunt has a twin, it would be my worst nightmare. One of him is definitely enough", Hunley muttered. He had forgotten he was addressing one of the members of Hunt's team. For a second he was sure William Brandt actually smiled, but may be it was his imagination because he now looked grim. Hunley took a sip of water on his desk, his throat was feeling dry from his thinking about the syndicate. That water was still in his mouth when Will said ,"Hunt does not have a secret twin around anywhere, I do though". The water had spurted out of his mouth in response to his shock. It would have wet agent Brandt but he had moved out of the way.

"What", he remembered spluttering, "that is not on your file".

"He kept his brother a secret, even from us, who really need to know something like that", Hunley remarked. "So that makes him more than qualified to deal with any pressures the syndicate may put on him. He knew the risks Hunt and agreed to deal with them".

"So whats the story with the brother", Benji asked carefully. It did not really sound that Brandt was in a lot of trouble over the admission and that was rather remarkable. "Brandt explained that his parents split up when he had his brother were quite young. The father took one twin and the mother the other. Thus they were raised apart, though they did have knowledge of each others existence . Brandt said his mother actively encouraged him not to seek out his sibling. A few years later both parents were dead , the mother in a road accident and the father from cancer. Clint found a home with a circus while Brandt was adopted into another family. He told me that he barely even considers Clint to be his brother. They are different in many ways and he really does not understand what drives his brother", Hunley explained. '

"Yet the brother must have similar skills or else he would not be considered for this mission", Ethan remarked. "There has never been a case of a mix up nor have their paths ever crossed professionally, that is remarkable when you think about it".

According to records Brandt is not related to the other one, there are different parents listed . Also Brandt tells me that they have never been seen together. William can deny even being related to Clint if there was any remark made. The only thing that would catch him out would be a medical examination." Nobody has ever asked for one, so it seems that most people consider the likeness in appearance to be one of those remarkable things that happen from time to time", Hunley told them.

"I don't understand, Will has a twin brother that he wants to deny. What information do we have on his twin", Ethan asked. He'd had a sick feeling about this from the beginning and it was not getting any better.

Hunley had known the question would be asked and he knew Hunt was not going to like the answer. So he braced himself when he put the information up on the screen.

Clint Barton's image stared down at them. Dressed totally in black leather and holding a bow in his hand he had an expression that Ethan had never seen Will wear. The face though was definitely Will's.

It was not how the guy was dressed that was Ethan's main concern, the big red writing across the image already had him feeling rather stressed. "He's considered to be a wanted man", Ethan muttered." Not to long ago he escaped from a government facility where only the most dangerous of criminals are kept. "He sounds so wonderful", Ethan remarked sarcastically.

Benji was looking at the rest of the information and finding his mouth falling open, "Will's brother is a former Avenger, his nickname is Hawkeye and he kills people with arrows". They all watched as footage played and they saw Clint Barton take out multiple hostiles without breaking a sweat . He never missed his targets either. "You sent Will on a mission with that guy, Hunley are you out of your mind", Ethan breathed out finding his anger returning. "It was our only option Hunt", Hunley told him.

"So you met with Barton then, briefed him, got him to promise to watch Will's back", Ethan asked seriously. "As you pointed out Hunt, the syndicate know about Brandt. He has been watched, which is why there was a delay in giving you that information. If you were too close to Brandt they may just smell a set up. I could not risk tipping them off by talking to the brother"

"So how did you tell him about the mission", Ethan asked. Hunley swallowed, "we visited him in prison to try to get him to agree to the mission in exchange for moving him out of maximum security" .

Ethan frowned, "it does not sound like the best deal", he remarked. "No, I suppose not. Barton was bartering for release, but the people who imprisoned him would not consider that." We were about to renegotiate , when one of Barton's former colleagues busted him out". Hunley did not say who that was.

"He did contact us on a burn phone to say he would still carry out the mission", Hunley stated. Ethan felt his frown deepen. "Why, what is his motivation now. He was free and presumably would have the talent to keep out of the authorities clutches. Because he chose to run, any deal would now be off the table."He is a marked man."

Hunley took a breath. "He asked to specifically renegiotiate with IMF, not involving any other official agencies. If we were interested in still carrying out the mission then he wanted two million dollars of untraceable currency and for us to look the other way after the mission and not stop him from going his own way."

Ethan, Jane and Benji all felt there frowns deepen, "so essentially we are hiring his skills". "I hope you told him that he would only get a deal like that if he kept Will safe during the mission and got him out alive", Ethan stated firmly. Hunley took a breath, he had not like Barton after hearing what he had to say about Will Brandt's safety and knew Ethan Hunt would feel the same. "He said he owed us nothing and his brother even less. There was an extra cost for him to restrain from killing Brandt himself".The price was an extra million".

Silence felt in the room after that comment and Hunley felt distinctly uncomfortable as three agents glared at him

"Since the mission is already underway you must have accepted his terms", Jane remarked soberly. "I said he would only get paid after the mission was over and only if he had not harmed Brandt in any permanent way". He accepted that", Hunley replied. "What about Will, did you tell him what Barton said", Benji wanted to know.

"Brandt was not surprised ,he said the dislike was mutual but that he would not act on his feelings." The syndicate only want twins ,so it is in both of their interests to put aside any personal agenda and just concentrate on the mission, Hunley stated firmly." He felt like a trapeze artist balancing over something high and treading very carefully.

Ethan felt like the frown on his face was going to be permanent, "I do not like this at all Mr secretary, he stated. Though obviously there is nothing I can do to prevent this mission happening now."

"No Hunt ,you can't prevent the mission but you can now be part of it. "Do you remember that question I asked you when discussing Brandt in my office awhile ago", Hunley said looking him straight in the eye. "Does he trust me", Ethan remarked. "Well he never shared about his brother". Ethan had shared very personal information about his wife with Brandt and that should have paved the way for him to reciprocate. Obviously he had not felt comfortable enough to do that.

"Hunt I think he felt too ashamed to do that.", Hunley told him in a surprisingly gentle manner. "He actually got very emotional when I pressed him on the reasons he had kept his brothers existence a secret". Brandt had in fact cried. That was why he would not face disciplinary action over the admission in the future. Hunley took a breath and said to Ethan ,"the answer is, yes he does trust you. He did set conditions of acceptance and one of them was that you were the one to back him up. Getting into this shadow syndicate may be the easy part. He will need your help to get out."

"So your mission, and I know you will accept it, is to find the current location of Agent William Brandt and then put an end to this shadow syndicate."Good luck Agent Hunt", Hunley told him.

Ethan stood up and without saying anything further exited the room with Benji and Jane following behind.

They did not go far though, just down the corridor to a room they could use to start the search for Will. Once inside with the door closed Ethan began pacing the room. "I do not like this at all. We basically hired Barton they same way you do a mercenary . He knew we would have to agree to his terms if we wanted to undertake this mission. "

"Yet he did not ask to have whatever he did to warrant being locked up in maximum security quashed", Benji stated. "Because it sounds like that was not going to happen", Jane stated seriously."That sounds ominous" . "Does the file tell us any of the details about the reason for his conviction", she continued.

"No it does not", Ethan stated with a quick look at the file. "But with his history and considering he was sent to a high security ,top secret government lock up it follows that it was a violent crime."The organization he used to work for SHIELD fell a few years ago. I remember that many officials were worried that the Avengers were too powerful and needed to be monitored in case that power got out of control." The all watched soberly as Clint Barton shoot arrows so fast they could not follow their flight on Benji's computer screen.

"Will must have been desparate to stop this new syndicate to reveal this knowledge after so long. If he had said nothing we would have been none the wiser", Benji remarked as he watched Clint Barton with a sick feeling. "Yeah, and he does not have a great relationship with the brother either. You are right in having reservations about this mission Ethan", Jane told him.

Ethan looked at Clint Barton's image in distaste. "He will still be on the run after this mission, though a rich man. If he gets caught at sometime that money is not going to matter."

Benji was playing with the images and put them up on the screen. 'What would happen if we went to rescue Will and he was the only one left alive", he asked

Ethan turned to Benji, "What are you saying ", he asked carefully. Benji had altered the images and asked, "can you tell them apart just by looking", he asked.

"Of course", Ethan scoffed, "Will is that one", he pointed to the left image. "I thought it was the other one", Jane muttered. Benji sucked out a breath, "it is neither of them as they are both Clint. My point is that Clint could get a clean slate if he pretended to be Will".

Ethan could see that that might be on Clint's mind. 'We take the DNA machine, he can't fake that. It is possible Clint was the one that caused Brandt's injuries. I am not inclined to trust him. Unfortuntely as Benji said, we can't tell them apart by looking. So we will have to make sure both of them get out alive."

"There is nothing stopping me hitting Clint Barton a few times after that", Ethan stated fiercely.

Benji was very tempted to say, you and whose army as he would not fancy taking on a former Avenger. He did not let the thoughts out of his lips though.

"Right I am going to scan Will's phone. "I doubt it will be that easy to find him, but there may be something on there we can use", Benji stated.

Ethan just nodded. His thoughts were already with his agent. He hoped he was still alive and in one piece.

Xxxxx

Will awoke to find himself lying on a crude mattress on the floor of a prison cell. He lay still for a moment just getting a feel for the place. His cell was not small, containing a bathroom area. Since there was only one bed, he guessed he was the only occupant. It was a clever move on the syndicates part to hide their members in a prison. He guessed that not all the occupants were members of the syndicate, some were genuine dangerous criminals. That would make his job even harder. Somewhere here, there must be information on the other syndicate members.

Slowly getting up he tested the door to find that it was locked. So they were being careful and controlling his movements.

The dividing wall between his cell and the next one was a clear material. He could clearly see Clint pacing up and down like a caged lion. As if he felt the stare his brother turned to regard him. 'So little brother, enjoying the accommodation are we. It is your first time behind bars", Clint said with a lopsided grin.

"But not yours", Will bandied back. "This is actually a step up accommodation wise. Though I imagine some of the inmates will be just as unfriendly. You will have to watch your back Will", Clint told him with a sneer .

Will prowled away from Clint checking out the rest of the cell. At the back there was another wall that was made of a dark material. He could see nothing through that wall but guessed that people on the other side could see him. So this was kind of like a zoo cage and he an animal they were studying. He swallowed thinking of how some animals were trained to do specific things. What might they try to do to him while he was here.

"We are likes rats in a cage little brother", Clint acknowledged. "Be prepared to be a good little rat and do what your master tells you. Otherwise it is going to get very unpleasant".

Will ignored Clint and stared into the blackness of the wall. He wondered if he was being watched.

Indeed on the other side the two big unfriendly giants were standing beside a smaller built man. He was not the type to be intimidated by that fact. They were just part of his army and would do what he told them. "So gentlemen, what do you think of our new acquisitions ", he asked the giants. "I think that the dossier on the IMF agents was not complete. We did not know about the other one", big unfriendly number one tapped Clint's image on a screen. "Why have you allowed the process to continue with Will Brandt. We should have just killed him", number two giant stated firmly. That made the other man frown, though he did not react violently as he had asked the question. "Are you implying we cannot handle IMF", he spat. "They won the last round but did not realize that winning meant activating the next layer of the syndicate. So technically we did not lose. As for Brandt, he will be very useful. We will feed them both our special diet .The drugs will mke them more susceptible to our conditioning. Soon Will Brandt will forget whose side he is on".

"As for Barton, we could consider him for a more permanent employee if he works out. We only need them together for a few specific missions. So you should not worry about Will Brandt, he is a disposable commodity". All the IMF may find will be his dead body", the man smiled. It was a cruel smile, one that did not bode well for Will.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 –target acquired

"I thought Brandt would leave us more clues", Ethan grumbled. All Benji had found out from the phone was that it would only ring in response to his number. That was yet another sign that their colleague had set up the trail for them to follow. Yet it seemed like they had hit a brick wall as Benji had said there was nothing else of interest on the phone. "So he was just hiding his phone from the syndicate", Jane mused. "It seems like it", Benji stated. He smiled to himself, "Brandt is so anal that everything on his phone is backed up twice." He had thought that was typical of the former analyst so had not bothered to mention it to Ethan.

Ethan turned to stare, "twice", he said. 'Yeah, you know a duplicate, copy, double", Benji was over explaining to Ethan. "Or twins", Ethan stated soberly. 'That was the biggest shock of all of this. I am impressed Brandt managed to hide the truth for so long." He was still feeling the shock of the revelation. They needed to talk to Brandt about his twin, but of course could not do that now. All he had left them with was hints and suggestion.

Benji smacked himself firmly. Of course the double entries had been a clue , he should have picked up upon that fact. Perhaps he too was still feeling off balance. "Yet now he confesses the existence of a twin ,and that may be the path Brandt wanted us to follow", he mused. Jane nodded in agreement, "having two lots of information on his phone would not be remarkable, so he'd be safe enough in doing that. It is a typical Brandt thing, yet it looks like he did it for a reason".

"Clint Barton", Ethan spat out the name. "I wonder if his friends , and I guess he must have some, know about Brandt's existence."

"I would say not, Brandt's never had Captain America pay a visit", Benji stated. He noticed the others stare at him in response to the name. "Well it follows that Barton's friends would be the former Avengers, like himself", he told them.

Benji was already working on finding out information on Captain America and found himself staring at the same warning they had seen on Clint's photo. "So he's wanted as well", Jane stated. 'Highly dangerous, well trained and responsible for breaking the others out of high security, that would have been difficult", Ethan remarked.

"He's not going to be easy to find, Jane mused. 'Or willing to talk to us, we look like the type of official people that may want to put him behind bars", Benji added.

Ethan blew out a breath and gave them the 'team leader stare'," I don't want to know what we can't do, I want to know what we can", he stated.

"Alright we find other former Avengers" , Benji stated. He began a new set of instructions for the laptop. 'Not all of them are wanted", he stated after a moment. Jane looked at the two lists, one lot criminals and the other employees of the government. "It seems something happened that divided these people." There were two powerful opposing sides", she observed. "Yes and Barton was on the wrong one", Benji stated. "It still does not tell us caused the division."

"No and that is rather interesting", Ethan remarked." I would think that would be something we needed to know. Yet Hunley specifically did not give details. I think this is so hush , hush that he may not even know the truth. That also tells me that finding out the correct facts may be difficult".

Benji had left his laptop and began to pace. "So we do not know everything, again. We always seem to be in this position". ""Yes we do", Ethan confirmed. "But these little bread crumbs Brandt is chucking us leave me wondering if he knew the truth about the division of the Avengers and that is why he took this mission". He wants to bring his twin to justice". Barton's own comments about killing Will make that hypothesis seem likely".

Benji shivered as he looked again at Barton's picture, was Brandt crazy taking that guy on. "So now we also have identical twins at odds with each other because of something we do not know. That is so sad, nothing could separate me from my family", he said softly. "Yeah but Will and Barton have been apart a long time. They don't consider themselves to be family", Jane said sadly.  
"No, that is just another problem with this", Ethan stated. "Yet Brandt is still giving us a trail to follow. For some reason he wants us to talk to his brother's former colleagues . So lets do that. It might bring us a step closer to finding both Brandt and answers to what is actually going on".

Xxxxxx

Prison facility -base of the syndicate—undisclosed location

"It is time for our newest aquistians to undertake their first mission", the man who called himself Joe Bloggs said to the big unfriendly Giants. He was watching Will and Clint on the monitors, seated in the prisons dining area. They were both eating the special food without hesitation.

"There has not been enough time for their systems to be fully affected by the drugs", big unfriendly two stated.

"No, but I do not foresee a problem with this mission. It is one I have specially selected". Of course it is a test of sorts. If they fail then we deal with them", Bloggs stated.

"Lets go and talk to our agents", the man led the two giants out and into another room where they waited for the twins to join them.

"Good morning gentlemen", Joe greeted. "Good morning sir", came back the crisp reply. Both of them had their eyes focused upon him and he could see the slight change in eye colour that indicate the drug was working. "I have a mission for you both", Joe continued. He put connected a flash drive to a laptop and began to play the mission package on the screen. 'This target can be eliminated in any way you see fit", a photo appeared on the screen and Will and Clint stared at it dispassionately.

"You Clint will be the distraction, while Will carries out the assassination", Bloggs told them. Clint looked at the photo on the screen with distaste. "I would like to be the one who carries out the kill",he stated. "Certainly I would have the better skills", he added. 'So you say. But then you don't know. Sure I don't use arrows, they are too flashy and easy to trace." I am a more subtle killer and I can get the job done" Will stated firmly, Bloggs looked at Clint who had clenched fists and was glaring at his twin, "back off Barton, the kill is Brandt's. No arguments , I expect my orders to be obeyed".

Clint glared for a second longer then conceded, "of course Mr secretary"."Good, then I will leave you gentlemen to go over the rest of the details." Do not fail me ", was Bloggs parting jibe.

Will and Clint sat side by side, though the tension in their bodies was clear to see. They looked like they wanted to explode but were holding themselves in to avoid that. "You better not stuff this up, little brother", Clint warned. "I won't big brother. Maybe you might learn some things along the way", Will countered. "I doubt that", Clint remarked firmly. He liked having the last word and expected that would put an end to the conversation. He was wrong because Will threw back ,"yeah well you don't get to take your flashy arrows Clint. That would tell everyone who did it in a second." Then he smirked and added, "welcome to the real world brother".

Clint turned his head to glare. Damn that come back was a good one. He had read his brothers file and thought he was a little too over emotional to be good at his job. Perhaps he was not as soft as he had thought. He really wanted to get the last word in, again, But could not think of anything else to say. So he just went over the mission and tried hard to ignore the fact Will was still smirking.

xxxxxxxxx

Natasha Romonoff was not smirking, in fact she was grumbling to herself about lack of progress in finding Clint. She had contacted several of his off book contacts, ones not known to SHIELD, that he may have gone to for help. No luck there.

She paced as she thought. Whatever had happened had started when Clint was in the raft. It was a time she knew nothing about. She did know who to call though.

She had a list of numbers in her head, contacts with the others who now had to keep a low profile. They considered her part of their family of lawbreakers and that was fine with her. This was the guy whose abilities astounded her, as both a tiny man and a giant terrifying one. "Hello its Scott Lang here", came the voice of ant man after the phone had rung 120 times . "Hello Scott, it is Natasha Romonoff , the lady in black leather", she explained . "I am worried about Clint , he has not gone home to his family"." Did anything of note happen while you were in the raft", Natasha asked . Scott remembered her being the lady who had fought with arrow dude, though Steve had told him they were former partners, as well as being good friends. He did not have a problem with her request ,as he was sure arrow dude was more than capable of handling himself if she did turn out to be trouble. "There was only one thing" , he told Nat. "Arrow dude, I mean Clint was taken out of his cell because he had visitors. They chained him up to go to the visit, just like you'd do to some overly violent offender. I think they actually hurt him . Yet when he came back, the chains were off. He had this weird expression on his face and said he wanted my opinion of something. He said he some people had an offer for him, but that it was not a good deal".

"I asked him if the offer would improve his status and he said a little". Scott paused," the raft was a tough place and I thought anything would be better than where we were". "Arrow dude seemed really shaken though and off balance. This was different for him, he was fairly staunch most of the time. He also knows how to keep the tough people away and I definitely liked that about him." He saved my ass from the wrong type of people a few times. I still advised him to take the deal." Scott breathed out, "his response was so weird, "he said he did not know if he could do it because some things could be worse than this place", Scott continued. "He was quite shaken up for a few hours after the visit."

"That's about it really. I did not see who visited him but it all would have been recorded. If you want to know more you are going to have to find someone who can hack into a military grade facility. Its above my pay grade by the way",Scott told her firmly. He was not volunteering to help her. Still she did not actually know if Clint was in any danger, just that he was not where he was supposed to be.

Scott had given her an idea and she knew just the person to go to for help. Though he might not want to help her, in fact he would probably throw her out. Well she would have to convince him, any way she could.

With that in mind Natasha headed for her car.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Several hours later- 1am

Will and Clint were dressed identically in black leather. Both carried untraceable automatic weapons. They had gone through their mission several times and were confident they could complete the mission without incident.

The building in front of them possessed top grade security systems. In fact it was better fortified that some of the best top secret facilities anywhere in the world. That did not bother Clint as he possessed an over ride program that had taken several years to design.

It was an evolving program that learnt and adjusted its methods according to the responses it received. He simply injected the program into the code pad that was at the buildings front door. This was its first line of defense. Within seconds the door was open . Now the program would attack any other technology it could find and render it inert. It would only be for a short period of time however, so they needed to get the hit over quickly. They entered side by side before splitting up and going their own ways.

Will crept silently , his weapon out, prepared for anything. He had no reservations about killing his target. It was simply part of his mission. Nothing was going to stop him tonight.

Xxxxxx

"Alright Benji it is time to do your stuff", Ethan told his team mate calmly as they stood outside the dark imposing building. Benji did not look calm, already sweat was beading on his forehead as he contemplated the huge task Ethan had set him. "This is one of the best systems in the world Ethan. Heck this guy designed most of those other systems. He would know how to counter any attack. This place has defense measures in place I have never dealt with before".

Ethan acknowledged that. Yes they had chosen a difficult target, but he was the only one whose location was well known. Yeah and now he knew the reason for that, he thought, the guy lived in a fortress. They were not wanting an official visit either, just in case it jeopardized Will . So they had to resort to sneaking which was hard to do in this case ."Just do what you can Benji. We just need to talk to him and we are not the enemy. Just get the door open", Ethan stated.

Benji put his IMF phone over the top of the coded entry point. The program on the phone would find the entry code if it could. He suspected he'd end up with a fried phone though. Oh well Ethan could buy him a better one. He was surprised though when his phone beeped seconds later.

Not saying anything to Ethan Benji tried the door. It opened easily. "Wow that was quick", Ethan remarked proudly. Benji swallowed hard and pulled out his gun. Ethan and Jane took a look at his face and follow his actions. "I did not do anything Ethan, the system is being over ridden. Whatever is causing it is slowly taking out each of the defensive systems. Its not going to be long before every security measure this place has it going to fail. Whatever it is cannot shut off everything permanently, just block it for a short time. Essentially though this place is going to be defenseless".

Ethan knew they now had to proceed with caution, because now they were obviously not the only ones present. "Be on your guard and look out for hostiles", he warned.

Xxxxx

Natasha had thought it would be difficult to gain entry to the building. She was sure that she would be deemed an unwelcome visitor. So when she put in an access card and the door opened easily she found herself shifting rapidly into defense mode. Every sense she had was screaming that something was not right and she knew to trust those feelings. Moving softly she crept into the darkness.

Xxxxxxx

Ethan , Benji and Jane moved through the darkened facility , looking in each room as they went. There was technology in here that Benjis just wanted to touch. Sometimes he had to force his hand away from the act of reaching out. He did not know what that technology did and could find himself facing a situation he did not know how to control.

Beside him Ethan and Jane ran their small lights over every inch, looking for signs of the intruder. Around them everything was still and quiet, and indication that whoever else was here did not want to be spotted.

They found no one on this floor and continued along and up a small staircase to a floor above. Here there was dim lighting, probably some kind of emergency measure.

At first there was no sound, then they heard very soft footsteps coming their way. Ethan , Benji and Jane had their guns trained upon the direction of the sounds. Seconds later they saw a familiar man step out of the shadows. He was dressed totally in black . In the dim lighting he loked pale and as he stepped into their torch light Ethan found himself taking a sharp intake of breath as he looked at his face. There was something off about his eyes. They seemed to almost glow in the dark. "Brandt", Ethan said softly.

He noticed his colleague did not appear to have a weapon but did not immediately lower his own.

"Ethan, Benji, Jane, please lower your guns", Brandt asked them. Ethan did so slowly, though he kept his eyes upon Brandt evaluating slowly. "Are you alright Will", Jane asked. 'You look a little", she paused trying to find the right words to describe what she saw. He looked different somehow, but she could not pin down why.

"I do have a headache", Will replied reaching one hand up to touch his own head, 'and feel strange". 'Maybe we should take you back with us, have you checked out", Ethan suggested. Brandt was beginning to make him feel twitchy.

"No, I have to finish the mission", Brandt stated. He was backing away slowly, moving toward the far side of the wall. The others followed him, equally as slowly ,their hands still away from their weapons. Brandt was making no move toward his own gun, so they did not have any reason to attack him. Ethan was debating about whether he should ignore what Brandt had said and abort the mission. Brandt hit the wall in the corner and stood there looking shaky. He was partially slouched, as though he was in pain. "Why are you here Brandt", Jane asked softly. "To do my job", came the reply . "What job is that", Benji wanted to know. He too was concerned about Brandts appearance and behavior.

Brandt had his hands up to his head and winced, "it hurts", he told them shakily. That comment was enough to bring them closer, only inches away from touching him. "You are coming with us", Ethan decided . He reached out to grab Brandt. It was only then that Brandt moved, faster than they believed possible. He hit something on the wall behind him then threw himself down and under their feet to slide across the floor. Before they could react, a 4 walls came crashing down around them, trapping them inside. They were still getting over the shock when Brandt came over to stare in at them. He said, "I have trapped hostiles floor below, you can proceed with the mission Will". All shakiness was gone as he smiled at them, "you just got played Hunt", Clint Barton told them. Ethan hit the wall with his fist, 'you bastard", he growled, "let us out". Clint scowled back at him, "I thought you liked being trapped in cages Hunt, they are a cosy little prison." "You would know all about prisons ", Jane declared with a snarl. Clint just shrugged off her anger, 'Yeah, I do, a lot of recent knowledge", he replied.

Ethan was looking around the cage ,trying to find a way out. "Oh don't bother Hunt, this is Stark's last line of defense. He can hide in here and nothing can hurt him. There is even food, though you won't need that", Clint told them. There was something final about the way he said that. "What are you talking about", Benji asked. 'Oh just that the air function is turned off. You have probably sucked lots out with all that talking", Clint told them casually. Then he turned, "good bye IMF team", he said. He moved over into the shadows leaving the three of them desperately searching for something that told them he was lying.

Ethan was cursing himself for falling for Clint's act. He had let his feelings for Brandt get in the way and had led them all into the trap, just like the other targets in the hits carried out by the syndicate had done. You look in the eyes of a friend and never believe they could betray you, so you let down your guard. Then their identical twin goes for the kill.

That thought had him wondering about Will. He was obviously the one expected to kill Tony Stark.

With the defense systems down the billionare would not be able to rely on hs iron man suit. Tonight he was just a man. Would Brandt actually pull the trigger, Ethan suspected that if he did not then Clint would do the job for him. Then Brandt would most likely be subject to cruel discipline measures.

"Barton was telling the truth ,we are losing air", Benji's words stopped his thoughts about Will. They had to worry about themselves first. "You said that whatever caused the shutdown could only block the system. How long before everything comes back online", Ethan figured the cage might just disappear then. "Only about 40 minutes from now, Benji replied. He sounded calm and Ethan relaxed until he added, "we have less air than that though". Ethan gritted his teeth, he was really beginning to hate Clint Barton.

On the floor above them Will crept silently toward Tony Starks bedroom. He had his gun out and ready, as he may only get one chance to take out the billionaire. Although the iron man suit could not help him Will was sure Tony Stark had learnt a few things over the years and would not go down without a fight.

He had just reached out his hand to graps the door handle of the bedroom when he found himself being bowled off his feet as a dim shape came out of nowhere. He rolled quickly and came to his feet in a fast fluid moment. In front of him he could just make out a leather clad form. When a small light brightened the room somewhat Will found himself staring at Natasha Romonoff.

"What are you doing here Clint", Natasha demanded in a harsh no nonsense tone. "Tony has to die Nat", he responded. He had of course read her file so knew that the shortened form of her name was an address Clint would make. He saw her tense her eyes run over him in an evaluating way.

Natasha found herself feeling afraid as she looked at Clint's eyes. They were not usually as blue as they were tonight. He also seemed unlike his normal self, more distant ,as though some emotion got sucked out. She had no doubt that he meant what he said, he was going to kill Tony. Maybe someone had paid him to do it, or maybe he was just pissed off at Tony , whatever the reason she could not let him take Tony out.

"You know I am not going to let you do that", she told him softly with menance. Will of course knew that. He also knew she was good at what she did. He only had one advantage and that was the fact she thought he was Clint.

Without any warning he launched himself at her.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6- target eliminated

Ethan could feel the air thinning around him as he struggled to draw in a breath. Beside him both Benji had Jane had gone silent as they all tried to preserve the air they had left. Benji was tapping away on his phone, trying something that would save them. They'd all tried kicking their way out of their prison with no more success than an ant would have at trying to get out of a sealed jar.

This surely could not be their end, locked in a cage by the man who looked like their friend. That would be the end they could never have ever imagined, even in their nightmares. Ethan wished this was a mere nightmare so he could awaken to find everything was alright. Beside him Benji had sunk to the floor, his face pale. Ethan went down beside him. Jane was still standing, staring out of the plastic as though she could somehow will themselves out of here. That was yet another dream. The reality was in less than 30 minutes they'd all be dead.

Xxxxxx

Will found himself flying over the black widows head as she kicked out in response to his tackle. He regained his feet fast and circled back toward her. His eyes focused upon her face, which was looking at him with a sense of puzzlement as well as bewilderment. His whole body had been jarred by the brief encounter with the floor. It had been a test of his strength and he knew he had failed ,miserably.

"What do you call that Clint", Natasha spat out, "the lame duck tackle, it was pathetic". Will conceded that most likely by the standards of an Avenger it had been a useless attack. He now had to step up his methods with moves that were not like those his brother possessed.

Natasha found herself feeling off balance as she stared at Clint. He was looking and acting so weird, unlike his usual self. The move he had made so far was like what he would have made years ago, as an amateur. That could have meant he was playing some elaborate game. Yet it was puzzling because it seemed like he was still actually trying to hurt her. She would have to knock him out then take him to get checked over by someone. She knew exactly how Clint moved and was all ready as he came back toward her.

Will propelled himself upward off the floor at the last moment; it felt almost like he was flying. Had anyone been watching it would be like a slow motion movement from one of those martial arts movies. It was not a move he'd ever used in Ethan's presence. So far that had not been necessary, though the encounter with the hostiles in Dubai had come close. The moves that were deep within him came from a darker past, one Ethan was not privy too. It harkened from the type of training where you either break or come out as a professional killer. He practiced these moves away from prying eyes, so that he would not have to answer too many questions.

Natasha had never seen Clint Barton fly before, yet now that was what was happening. It looked like he was actually suspended in the air in front of her, hovering just like vision and Wanda had during the airport fight. Yet that was not possible for the very human Clint,at least she had not thought so. If he had possessed moves like this why had he not used them before. She braced herself as he flew into her. Even then the force of body as it smacked into hers had her reeling on her feet then losing control of her legs altogether. She felt herself go flying back across the room to smack with a crack into the wall. Blood dripped from between her lips as they bit hard into her tongue. That blood ran down her chin and onto the floor , pooling in a puddle beneath her. Her head swam for a moment.

In front of her Clint was standing still again just looking at her with these weird blue eyes. "Clint, stop it", she gasped. This was not like him either, it was like he gone from pathetic to possessed. "I can't Nat", Will told her as he launched himself at her again.

She was more prepared for the floating action this time moving as rapidly as her aching body could to one side. Then she kicked out, with the full force of the power in her legs. It was a move that had downed many opponents and she expected it would work on Clint.

Yet he just gripped her legs in a grip that was fiercely intense and hit down hard. She could have sworn she heard the snap her bones made.

Intense pain washed over her and she fell once more to the floor. She writhed away from Clint, trying to shake off the pain. He came on though to grab her around the neck. She was looking right into his weird eyes when he forced her head downward hard into the floor below.

Another crack sounded and she found her vision swimming in and out. She could hear Clint breathing as he closed in on her. She had never thought she would die at his hands. But something had happened to him, it was like he was someone else.

She turned her head slightly, despite the pain, determined to look him in the eye as she died.

"Leave her, we have to eliminate the target", the voice that spoke sounded like Clints, yet she was looking straight into his face and did not see his lips move. "What scared, I am going to kill your old girlfriend Clint", the man in front of her was now speaking.

Then she saw the sight that made her think her head injury was causing hallucinations, two Clints, looking down at her. "No, she is not the target . We are running out of time, something is happening to the system, the overide is being overridden. We have less time than we thought. Get it over with, unless of course you are afraid".

The man in front of her scowled and moved forward to offer her a half hearted kick. "Fine brother", he said. She watched through the haze in her mind as he walked toward Tony Starks bedroom and then entered.

Then the other one came close to her and somehow she knew that this actually was Clint. She could see it in his eyes as he looked at her. "Clint", she gasped out, "who was that'.

"That Nat, was my brother", Clint told her casually. He bent down then, over her and grapped hold of her hair, in a manner that was not at all friendly. "We have a job to do Nat, and you got caught in the middle". Sorry its not personal". She could see his eyes brighten even more and knew it was a symptom of something. She felt like she had when he had been possessed by Loki, that she was facing someone she no longer knew. "Clint don't", she said softly. "It was the voice of his long time friend, the one who had loved him before Laura had come into his life. For one moment she could have sworn his eyes changed again, with the brightness disappearing into normality. It only lasted a second before his eyes changed again and so did his grip upon her hair. He was pulling it tight as he raised her head upward before slamming it down again into the floor. As everything went dark around around Natasha wondered if her friends face was the last thing she would ever see.

Clint heard a popping sound from the room behind him as he straightened. Will emerged from the room seconds later. "Well brother, he asked. "Go look for yourself brother", Will challenged.

Clint did that marching into Tony's bedroom. He took one look at what was in front of him then marched out again. Will noted he was pale, "you actually did it", Clint muttered. "So you really thought I was weak, well now you know better. I can take Stark, and Romonoff and one day it will be your turn Clint", Will told him firmly. "Stark was awake briefly and I looked straight into his eyes. He was rather shocked at who was going to be the one that ended his life. That shows that he thinks you are not a threat. Clint shook off and instant of terror that came upon him as he looked at Will. He looked down at his watch and away from his brothers prying eyes . "We have 5 minutes before the system comes back on lime and we face trouble", he warned. Will nodded, he felt nothing about what he had done to Natasha or Stark. What about the other hostiles you encountered", he asked. Clint gave a half smile, "it was that smart arse Ethan Hunt, who found he was not as smart as he thought. He is about to find out exactly how good the defenses of this place are, Clint told him.

For one second Will felt his body go weak". It must have shown on his face because Clint mocked, "not so mighty then, worried about your former colleague". Will shook his head, "it is nothing to do with me", he said to his brother firmly without an doubt. 'Let's return to our agency, and celebrate our victory".

"Indeed brother, its nice to see you are learning, Clint mocked. "Learning, Clint, I know things that you don't and one day I am going to show them to you. Then we will see which of us is best", Will gave him a hard lipped snarl.

He moved ahead of Clint then , heading for the door.

Xxxxxx

Ethan was surprised when the wall he was lying against went sliding back up to the roof. He lay there for a moment sucking in the fresh air. "I managed to make that blocking program speed up. It has now ended, so there is no need for the cage", Benji told him.

Ethan patted Benji's shoulder and Jane simply hugged him. It was the type of hug that spoke volumes about how relieved he was. There was also a deep affection, that was somewhat surprising to Ethan.

Jane often treated Benji more like a wayward brother than anything else. Still fearing for your life can bring about some rapid changes.

'If the system is back on, then are Will and Clint still here", Jane asked a minute later. Benji checked his scanner, "well there is a heat signature, but it's by the bedroom". He shivered as he checked his facts, "there are no heat signatures in the bedroom ". Ethan swallowed nervously at that news, surely Will would not have killed Tony Stark.

"We need to go check on that heat signature", he said. They had just started to move when "intruder alert",a voice announced.

The voice had barely stopped speaking when swivel guns came out of the walls around them without warning. All them were aimed directly at them with no possibility of missing. 'We are not the enemy", Ethan shouted," government agents, do not fire".

"Put your hands above your heads", came the warning. 'Ethan and the others complied. "Mr Stark, Mr Stark, respond, the voice requested.

Ethan found himself holding his breath at that request. When silence was all that happened he knew that his worst fears had been realized. "We came here tonight to talk to Mr Stark and found the defenses immobilized", Ethan stated to the air, 'there were other hostiles present. We believe their agenda was to assassinate Tony Stark."

"Checking", was all the voice said in response. It sounded like it had no emotions, more machine than anything else. "Stark is supposed to have an AI guarding this place, may be we are speaking to it", Benji suggested. He said it softly, like he thought he could affect a machine based lifeform with his voice. It was not a possibility though and that scared him even more.

"I cannot find Mr Starks life pattern present in this building", the AI said it with no passion whatsoever. "There is another lifeform present, identifying. Match found, Natasha Romonoff", it said.

"The black Widow, Jane stated, .Maybe she might know what is going on".

"Romonoff is on my list of undesirables", the AI stated, "I have instructions to carry out if her presence was detected".

"Can we supercede those instructions", Ethan suggested, "we would like to talk to her. "Something went down here tonight and she may hold vital information."

He did not know if he could reason with the AI. "All of those currently present are under house arrest. You will not be leaving here until an explaination is given, the guns came out further then, threatening in a way that was not at all reassuring.

Xxxx

Natasha found her eyes opening, much to her surprise. Her whole body ached, but her head was by far the worst. She slowly sat up, wimpering a little as the pain in her head intensified. For a moment she thought she would lose consciousness again. The thought of what could be happening around her kept her from falling back onto the ground, just. She staggered to her feet and stood still for a moment, waiting for her head to stop spinning. When it did her first thoughts were of Tony Stark. He would be pleased by that, she thought. "Tony", she called out loudly. "Mr Stark is not present", came JARVIS's voice. She was about to request more information when a gun came out of the wall to aim at her head. 'Natasha Romonoff, you are under house arrest", JARVIS stated.

She was about to start arguing when 3 people came into the room. They had their hands over their heads and moved cautiously, their eyes alert. "Who are you ", she demanded. "Impossible Missions Force, personal", came JARVIS's reply. He had of course already checked them all out and was satisfied they were indeed Government agents. "Never heard of you", Natasha replied softly. She kept herself calm and controlled ,waiting for any opportunity to get herself out of this mess.

"Are you alright Miss Romonoff", Ethan asked, as he looked her over. She had been beaten up, very effectively, and he guessed Clint was responsible.

"My system detects some major bruising to multiple places on your body, as well as a concussion", JARVIS reported. "No kidding", Natsha mumbled, she definitely felt every bruise. "I have held off notifying extra government forces as there are agents already present who can take you into custody", JARVIS stated. Nat looked over at the other people, knowing JARVIS was speaking about them. She evaluated them in an instant and decided on who was the leader and the most dangerous of the trio.

He was not very tall, yet there was something in his eyes that warned her he could be unpredictable. If she was to get out of this he was the one who she had to convince. "I only came to talk to Tony, just like you", she stated. "It is an unusual hour for talk, and neither of you have an appointment", JARVIS stated. "We did not wish to have any interruptions, so chose a time when there would be no other visitors" Jane told the air. "I had the same thought", Nat stated.

She had already been noticing a few things about this conversation. As yet nobody had mentioned Clint or the other one. She was still getting her brain around the whole idea of Clint having a brother. It seemed impossible, yet she had seen him with her own eyes. Thinking more about how he had changed his fighting style so rapidly, she decided the brother must be a professional like Clint. Her next leap of foresight was that most likely he worked for the other agents in the room. That was the real reason they were here. So they had something in common, they were tracking a colleague who was possibly a friend as well. She walked past the dark headed one slowly heading for Tony's door. They were not going to progress past the why are you here stage without someone taking action.

Curiously she found the door was locked. "I have sealed the area until I can finish my investigation", JARVIS stated firmly. That whole sentence told them firmly exactly who was in charge. The guns were still pointing at them, an ominous reminder of the fact that they were all still suspects.

"Look AI, we are not going to find the hostiles while we are standing here finger pointing", Ethan stated firmly. They are probably heading back to their base now".

"If you give me a description, I can alert all law enforcement agencies", JARVIS stated. Nat found herself staring the leader in the face, willing him not to answer the question. She assumed that if Clint's brother was a former colleague they may want to keep that knowledge to themselves.

"We did not clearly see the perpetrator", Ethan replied. He knew because the AI's defensive systems had been offline during the time Clint and Will had been present that it had no clear idea of who eas responsible for what had happened to Tony Stark.

"Even some sketchy details will be of use, my system has many capabilities that supercede those of regular …",the voice suddenly broke off. Ethan frowned, "hello, hello", he said into the air. Benji started to grin, "yes, I did it", he proclaimed. "Did what", Ethan remarked, "well essentially the program that froze the AI the first time, is still present, just inactive. So I reactivated it. Now we only have about 10 minutes, but we can get out of here".

Ethan almost felt like kissing Benji. Instead he turned to Natasha, "you look like you may need medical attention. We do know some discrete people who could help you. After that we could sit down and have a talk about Clint Barton". Nat ignored him, walking forward to try Tony Stark's bedroom door. She found it was securely locked. "The system should have released the door, but obviously it is sealed by other means", Benji stated. "Yes and these doors are made to resist heavy weapons fire, even all of us would not have a chance to make it open in the time we have left", Nat stated heavily. She did not like this situation one little bit.

Ethan shrugged off the problem of the door and asked Natasha again,"So how about my proposition, 'you are the one who knows Clint Barton best".

Saying her friends name again made her instantly put her guard up. "So you know him then", she said carefully. "We had never heard of him recently. However we do know his twin", Ethan replied.

"Yeah well I did not know he had one until just awhile ago', Natasha said in a definitely put out voice. It was a huge revelation that she should have known a long time ago. So why had Clint never told her. She could not ask him now. All she could do was try to find him and get him out of whatever mess he was tangled in . She stared at Ethan, 'the brother works for you",she asked. Ethan just nodded. There was a lull in the conversation until Jane stated."Clint beat you up quite effectively, at least that was better than what he tried to do to us". Nat felt her ire rise, "it was not Clint who did this, it was your colleague. He went from pathetic to controlled yet possessed."

Jane found her mouth dropping open in shock and saw the others were equally as affected. 'Yeah well Clint locked us in a cage and sucked out all the air, I would say that also qualifies as possessed. We only had a few minutes left to live, so you probably got the better deal", Benji retorted. He could not keep the anger out of his voice. From that tone and the look on the others faces, Nat got the idea these agents regarded Clint as the enemy.

She found herself preparing to fight her way out of their presence. "That is enough finger pointing, Ethan's voice was not loud yet firm. "Our goal is to stop the syndicate." He looked at Natasha, 'that is who is behind all of this. If you have some non official contacts it would be helpful to know what information they have on the syndicate. We stopped its former leader awhile ago, but now find a shadow branch has taken its place. They specifically use identical twins to carry out assassinations."

Nat found herself frowning because it sounded like this agent had no intention of taking her into captivity. "You are going to let me go", she asked cautiously. Benji and Jane stared at Ethan, they did not expect him to do that. "Yes, as I said, it is better if there are two lines of inquiry. You have methods available to you that we do not." Ethan held out his hand, " there seems to be a division that caused, this problem Ms Romonoff, it is affecting the Avengers and even touching identical twin brothers, I do not want it to drive us apart. Enemies like the syndicate thrive because of division, and we need a united front to eliminate them. That will free both of our colleagues".

Nat found herself moving forward and shaking his hand. He seemed sensible about this whole thing.

Yet he was also controlling what she knew in one major way, he did not tell her the name of Clint's brother

She decided not to ask. They were running out of time after all. '"I guess we will meet again", she stated to them as she drew herself up and moved away rapidly. If you looked at her from behind you would never guess she was injured and vulnerable.

Ethan waited about 2 minutes then quickly left the building with the others beside him. It was not until they were outside in the dark streets that Benji and Jane asked. "Why let her go Ethan, our goal was to gain more information".

Ethan smiled slightly, 'she may just regard us as the enemy, therefore not give us anything. So I placed one of those subdermal trackers on her when we shook hands. Now we can track her movements. She may be able to find Clint and if she does we will be there right behind her".

Benji and Jane nodded, as usual Ethan had a sneaky plan. "So what do we do about Will killing Tony Stark", Benji asked soberly. Ethan sighed heavily," it sounds like they have both been drugged and that may be influencing his actions. We will have to take him in under duress if necessary then give him to the medical section. Essentially IMF will want assurances that he was either not thinking rationally or acting to protect his cover ."

"We still need to find him, Benji reminded them. "Are we any closer to that", Jane asked. "Actually yes, Ethan told them. "All we have to do is figure out their next target. From their actions so far I think we can make an assumption on who they will be targeting next."

Ethan said nothing for a moment as he waited for Benji and Jane to come to the same conclusions. When Benji went pale and Jane let out a sucking shocked breath he knew that the reality had just hit them, hard.

They are going to come after us",Benji stated." Indeed IMF versus the syndicate again, with one of our own leading the charge",Ethan stated.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 -whose side are you on?

Natasha slipped inside the small room and locked the 6 different types of locks securing that door firmly. She had chosen the rooming house at random and made sure that her appearance would not be memorable enough to get her noticed.

Stripping out of her clothing she examined the injuries caused by Clint's twin in the mirror. He had been efficient in his means to injure her, leaving behind some nasty bruises and abrasions. She removed the small first aid kit from the bathroom cabinet and began to treat herself.

This treatment included checking every inch of her body for any tracking devices that may have been planted by the team from the impossible missions force. Although the agents had let her go, she had definitely gotten the idea they had a bigger agenda than just her. This was the way she had to think now, to regard every meeting with agents as being part of a larger campaign to recapture the other rogue Avengers. The question of whose side are you on, constantly revolved around in her head.

From what she could tell from the conversation with those other agents Clint's twin was not on the same side as Clint and that did not bode well. He did possess enough fighting skill to seriously injure or perhaps even kill her former partner. "Why did you not tell me about your twin Clint", Natasha growled as the bruise beneath her skilled fingers stung fiercely. It seemed inconceivable that Clint could keep a secret that big. Yet he had.

She tried to think of anyone who could have known the truth and only came up with one name, Laura Barton.

She dialled Lauras number. It rang and rang, until finally she hung up. The lack of a response bothered her. Had something happened to Laura. She hoped not. Since she did not know Laura's hiding place, she could not go and look. Normally she would not ever think that Clint would betray his wife and kids, not even if he was working for a criminal organization. Yet he was drugged and obviously not in total control and that could mean Laura was in danger.

She growled again, this was all so frustrating. What could she do now, she still had no idea where Clint was. Her fingers found the phone again ,intending to ring Steve and update him on events. But she hesitated, fearing for his safety. Even if they were not chasing him themselves, any information on Steve's location found during a search by the Impossible missions force would be automatically given to a strike force team. By looking for Clint she may just jeopardize Steve and the others and she did not want that.

If she got to the stage of actually knowing where Clint was, then she would need help. As she began to treat her injured ribs Natasha mentally ran over every aspect of her conversation with the other agents. "The syndicate", the name of the people they reckoned were pulling the strings of Clint and his brother rolled off her tongue. It was not an unfamiliar name, she was sure at some time one of the Avengers had mentioned this organization. Stopping her treatment Natasha closed her eyes and relaxed her mind, not trying to force any memories to the surface. She stayed like that for 20 minutes, looking like she was sleeping. Then her eyes opened as she remembered the reference. He was one of the Hydra agents they had encountered, not a high level operative, mainly the messenger boy type. When they looked into his background they found his allegiance changed from one criminal organization to the next.

"He was once a member of something called the Syndicate", she remembered Tony telling them. His next words chilled her, "I cannot find anything out about them, which means they are adept at hiding. Of course that indicates that these people operate in the big leagues. It is surprising we have never been called out to deal with them". The man had a gotten a deal in exchange for information on some of his former Hydra colleagues. He had refused to say anything about the syndicate. That told her he was more scared of them than he had been of hydra. To find him would not be that easy as he would be in hiding somewhere.

Tony would have been the one to aid her in her search using JARVIS's special abilities. Obviously that was why Tony had become a target. He was also the official leader of the new Avengers and the others would be momentarily thrown off balance by his death. She closed her eyes feeling fresh tears as she thought of Tony. He was often a self inflated pain in the ass but that did not mean he should have been killed .

She pulled her thoughts from Tony before they could cripple her. She needed to think about where this former Hydra/ Syndicate operative might hide. Ironically her own position as a wanted fugitive had given her insight into a lot of different places people who were fleeing the attention of law enforcement could go. It was a tough world and she would have to be at her best to deal with the people she met there. None of them would give up what they knew easily and she would have to be at her best to deal with them.

That though made her close her eyes and drift off to sleep.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ethan had chosen a hotel at random, not daring to use any of their regular hideouts in case Brandt had made them known them to the syndicate. He had notified the secretary that Brandt was drugged and possibly not longer in control of what he was doing. Now IMF was in lock down with every agent on high alert in case they had been betrayed. Brandt had the knowledge of both an analyst and an agent in his mind and could do a lot of damage to the agency.

They were preparing equipment to bait a trap for Brandt, then they would chose a location known to their friend and wait for him and Barton to try and come and get them. Getting them to essentially walk into that trap was not going to be easy but if they were careful they could make it work.

There was one aspect though that bothered Ethan, getting Brandt out of this mess alive. When he came for them he was not going to hold back , going for means that would kill rather than incapacitate. Subduing him in those circumstances would be difficult. Then of course there was the fact that there were two of them and he had to take them both out at the same time. If Barton got away he may return with the full force of the syndicate and take out IMF.

So this mission was now balanced on what felt like a slippery slope. As they prepared their weaponry Ethan could not help glancing down at Brandt's phone sitting on the table beside him. He took it up into his hand as though it would help him feel closer to his agent. He had hoped Brandt would contact them some how on the phone. But that had not happened. Most likely it was not safe for Brandt to take such a measure. So if leaving the phone behind was not about contacting them, then surely it had been about letting them know where he and the syndicate were located. Yet that did not seem to be the case either."If you really do trust me Brandt why not give me proper clues to where the syndicate is located". You hid the phone for a reason and I would of thought it was because there was something on it I could use to find you. Of course it would be something suitably sneaky that the syndicate would not understand if they did find the phone. Yet all that was on it was two lots of boring information.

Ethan sighed and put the phone down again. Benji had stripped it bare and found nothing hiding inside. So far, they had had one encounter with Brandt and had not gotten close enough to try and talk to him.

This time it would not be about talk, Ethan was loading a gun with a heavy tranquilizer. He would just shoot first then once Brandt was in a secure location, ask questions.

Finally finishing all they need to do, they settled down for the evening to rest.

Xxxxx

Ethan found himself sitting upright at around 5 oclock in the morning covered in sweat. In his dreams he had fought Brandt many times and each time he had killed him. He slipped out of the bed intending on getting himself a cold drink. As moved he bumped the bedside table, causing Brandt phone to fall onto the ground. He bent down and picked it up and was about to place it back upon the bedside table when a question popped into his mind. Turning on a small light, Ethan turned on the phone and waited for it to power up. Then he looked at the information Brandt had programmed into the phone, the boring stuff duplicated twice, not of use to them or the synicate. Why put it there then, what did it tell them. It seemed it was a whole lot of nothing. Benji had just shaken his head, not getting the point. Admittedly neither had Ethan, until this moment. He had now asked himself a different question and come up with a different answer.

Quietly dressing Ethan collected the tranquillizer gun, then without a word to Jane or Benji slipped quietly out of the hotel room. He headed for his apartment, a place well know to Brandt and therefore a good choice for their inevitable battle.

Xxxxxx

Maximum security prison undisclosed location

"You have both done well", Joe Bloggs smiled at Clint and Will. "It is time to progress to the next stage of your assignment and take out these targets". Benji, Jane and Ethans photos were put onto the table." Unfortunately your methods on the last mission did not permanently dispose of these problems", Giant one told Clint. "It was a good effort though. "

Will could feel Clint's eyes boring into his own as he looked at the photos. Giants one and two were also looking at him, their gaze assessing his reaction. 'I don't have a problem with these targets", Will said firmly. Clint spluttered, "not a bad lie, brother, but I saw your reaction when I told you I had dealt with them." I don't think he can be trusted to take the lead on this one gentlemen. Besides I thought that since he took out Stark that I would take out Hunt."

Will felt his fists ball and hit out at Clint. Clint easily caught his fist and pushed it back. "That reaction tells me you don't like the truth brother", Clint spat out. "Its not the truth, I dealt with Stark, I can deal with Hunt", Will growled.

Joe Bloggs cleared his throat loudly, bring their attention back to him. "Actually it is my call and I am giving the responsibility for the hit on Hunt and his team to Brandt. My ultimate aim here is to make Hunt suffer and having to fight his former colleague will certainly cause more than physical pain.

Will slapped Clint hard on the shoulder. "Maybe it is not being useful that you don't like brother. I am showing you up and it hurts". Get used to it", Will growled. Clint scowled back, "taking Stark out in his sleep is hardly difficult Will."Anyone could do that". So don't get anover inflated opinion of yourself. Hunt is going to fight hard."

"Yeah but he's not going to try and kill me Clint and that will be his mistake", Will told his brother. 'I agree Hunt will want to try and free you from what he sees as a bad situation. "That is why he is the better choice for dealing with Hunt Barton. Now both of you have had a busy night, I suggest you get some rest", Joe told them.

Giant one took Will out and Clint was about to follow Giant two when Joe Bloggs said "wait". Clint stood in front of his desk looking at him with an appraising glance. "You will be backing up Brandt on this mission Barton and if he does fail to take out Hunt, then his employment with us is at an end." Bloggs stared into Clint's eyes, "I am sure you understand what I mean by that". "Of course ", Clint said easily,calmly, "Will always was going to die. You could though least make it interesting", Clint smiled wickedly, "I have a few ideas about that". He talked to Joe Bloggs for another hour before returning to his cell. He could see that Will was asleep on the floor of his own cell. Knowing his own body desperately needed rest he curled up too and drifted off thinking about the plans for the mission and how everything would soon be over.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

"Where is Ethan", Jane demanded when she opened his bedroom door and found him gone. Benji sighed and sunk heavily into a chair. "He has gone to deal with Brandt alone. I think what happened with Lane still haunts him. That man took me hostage because he saw that Ethan's friendship was a weak link that he could use. Now the syndicate has Brandt and is also using him. Ethan fears it will end in his death."He wants to make sure that does not happen. The more of us that are out there, the more likely it is going to go pear shaped. I could not say that I would not shoot Brandt if it looked like he was going to kill Ethan", Benji confessed. "Neither could I", Jane acknowledged sadly. "That is what they syndicate want out of all of this, for us to feel vulnerable, to even fight our own and not them".

"Although I understand Ethans feelings ,dealing with this himself is risky because Barton is in the mix as well. I think that even drugged Brandt may hesitate to kill, but Barton definitely won't, Ethan will have to take him out. I don't know that I want to place bets on the outcome of that one", Jane decreed

Benji had been prowling Ethan's room the entire time, looking over everything. He found a small piece of paper resting on the side of the bathroom sink. The note was in Ethan's handwriting. "It says don't interfere and wait 24 hours for his signal", Benji stated with a sigh. Jane found herself marginally relaxing, "we have to believe Ethan knows what he is doing', she told Benji. "He does have some sort of plan and if we do interfere, it could change the outcome for he worse.'

Benji was pacing as his mind worked overtime, if Ethan's goal was to deal with Brandt himself, then he could see one major flaw. " Jane I understand Ethans thinking on this one, he believes that he can take Brandt out. What if he is wrong".

Jane looked down at the gun lying on the table, "then it will be up to us to correct his error Benji", she said grimly. "We can't let Ethan die at Brandts hands", Benji muttered, his hands going to his eyes as he felt the tears threatening. "You could be wrong and he will try and kill Ethan. It is what the syndicate want, why they have let him live this long knowing he works for IMF. They have given him those drugs to mess with his mind. We have no idea if he even remembers who side he is on'" Benji explained. He wanted Jane to agree to help sort this out. Jane patted his shoulder just telling him."Ethan does not want us there Benji, that much is clear. He does have a plan and I am betting it is a sneaky one. Out of the two of them Ethan is definitely better at those. Brandt won't even see what he has planned coming. So ,yes I am nervous but I am willing to wait the 24 hours." Benji knew she was right, but he could also not get those words uttered by Natsaha Romonoff out of her head, "he was acting like he was possessed". Brandt could be more dangerous than even Ethan had anticipated. Yet if he did interfere and it went wrong, the blame would rest on his shoulders. That was a sobering thought that made Benji finally decide he had to put faith in his team leader.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ethan unlocked the door to his apartment and strolled inside. He pushed a button and activated the security systems. Amongst them was a proximity detector that should alert him if anyone is close by. The fact that the detectors existence and location was unknown to Brandt was a definite bonus.

He taped the tranquilizer gun under he table then strolled into the kitchen to make himself coffee. Now it was only a matter of waiting.

Xxxx

The hours ticked by. Ethan had read a magazine, watched some television and then turned on his laptop to do some paper work. He knew that Brandt was probably hoping that boredom would creep in and he would let his guard down. That was not going to happen.

He had just begun to type on his laptop when the proximity alert flashed. It detected one person outside the door to his apartment. Sucking in breath and readying himself Ethan waited for the door to come crashing open. When it did not, he found himself moving closer to the door and looking at the proximity detector. The indicator was flashing meaning that person was within touching distance. Ethan found himself swiveling away from the door and back to his living room. There sitting calmly on a chair was one of the twins. He guessed he had come up from the balcony below while he was busy at the door. He ran his eyes over him, trying to assess whether this was Will or Clint . He could not tell but whoever it was had seated themseves right in front of the table where he had hidden the gun, perfect, he thought.

"Do you want a coffee Will", Ethan said calmly. Those weird looking blue eyes just stared at him for a long second. Ethan held his breath and waited for the answer. "You don't usually call me by my first name Ethan", Brandt said in reply. "No I don't Brandt", Ethan acknowledged. He had used the first name hoping that he may get this response. This was definitely Will.

"So do you want a coffee", Ethan kept his words casual. "I am not here to drink coffee", Brandt told him. "What are you here for then" ,Ethan asked softly. He was not detecting any change in Brandt's posture , no indication that he was going to attack. His appraising glance had not detected any obvious sign of a weapon either. Neither one of those was a reassuring fact as it just meant Brandt was waiting until his guard was down before he attacked. The next words out of his mouth only added to that assessment. "You are the enemy", Will said it with a certainty that stung.

He had to keep calm and not react as he replied ,"no Brandt I am not. Something has been done to you to make you believe that lie'". Ethan kept his eyes firmly on Brandt whose words were combative, yet his body was relaxed, like he had no troubles. He cast a covert glance at the proximity detector, it did not flicker. So Brandt was for the moment alone. "Where is Barton", Ethan asked carefully.

"I don't need his help to deal with you Ethan, this is between you and I only", Brandt replied. There was hardly any emotion there, Brandt seemed more machine than man right now. Ethan held himself ready, he'd had enough talk, enough waiting, "then do it Brandt", he challenged.

He did not wait for Brandt to attack launching himself at speed across the floor and at the chair where his colleague was sitting. It had only taken a few seconds and Ethan expected to make contact with Brandt. But all he found himself doing was flying at an empty chair as with a speed he had not anticipated Brandt had moved. As he went down onto the chair Brandt tossed himself upward and over him. Then he was pounding his fists into his back and trying to keep him down.

Ethan cartwheeled sideways kicking up his legs at Brandt's exposed side as he went. He clearly heard the impact of feet against flesh. Yet Brandt did not seem to react in the slightest. Ethan swallowed, whatever that drug was, it was artificially boosting his physical speed as well as blocking pain.

Ethan made a grab for a vase that sat on his table, hoping that physical objects thrown with force would distract Brandt.

He found himself gasp though when the vase was simply hit out of the way before it even made contact. Surprisingly the vase was still intact as it came flying back toward him. It shattered as he hit it spraying fragments of china all over his face and obscuring his view.

For one second Brandt was out of his line of sight. He came barreling into him in a manner he had never seen before, suspended in the air for a few seconds before lashing out with both arms and legs.

Ethan felt himself grunt at the impact, but did not let his legs buckle, simply absorbing the shock into his leanly muscled body. He moved himself to within inches of Brandt and started to trade blows hoping to wear his colleague down.

Brandt simply blocked his efforts, then retaliated with harder, faster movements. If Benji and Jane had been watching they would have both been agitated at the sight of the two of them, trying hard to disable the other. Neither one of them though was making a breakthrough. It was time to try something. Ethan moved himself around the room, forcing Brandt to also move to keep in contact. When his colleague was positioned correctly Ethan threw himself forward sweeping his legs up and under Brandt's as he went. He felt his colleague fall backward onto the table where the gun was secured.

Brandt felt himself hit the table and wood splinters fly into his back, it hurt and for a moment Brandt felt himself tire. Part of him really wanted to surrender at that point. But no, another part said he needed to defeat Etahn. He did not dare stay down and let himself be more vulnerable. So he rolled sideways away from Ethan.

Ethan also rolled sideways grabbing the gun from the table as he went. It seemed strange now that Brandt did not have a weapon, was he really hoping to defeat him by hand to hand alone. That bothered Ethan but he did not stop ,swinging around to fire rapidly at where Brandt was.

But he had moved again and Ethan had no idea where he was until he felt the hot breath on his back and realized Brandt was now behind him.

Before he could spin around Brandt had made a grab for the gun, trying the maneuver he had in Dubai with Moreau's men. Ethan as ready for that one though and slapped him had across the face while trying to pull the gun away.

It was not that easy though because Brandt's grip was fierce. Ethan felt the instant that he had lost control of the weapon and saw it come up to face directly at him.

Brandt's finger was on the trigger and surely he would not miss. They were inches apart and Brandt whispered to him, "I trust you, Ethan Hunt".

Then he let go of the gun and Ethan fired a transquilizer into the side of his neck.

He backed off slightly expecting that Brandt would go down. All he did though was waver on his feet slightly and then reach forward to grab the gun again. "You must trust me', he said as he forced Ethan's hand away from the trigger.

Ethan found himself doing everything he could to try and maintain control of the gun. His dart was still in Brandt's neck and surely he would be feeling the effects soon. Brandt was still fighting with an unexpected ferocity with his one free hand and his legs, while still maintaining his grip on the gun.

"Come on go down", Ethan found himself saying. As if in response to his plea Brandt finally found his legs beginning to loose power. He started to stagger. Ethan felt his grip loosen and relaxed, this was going to be over in seconds.

In one last effort Brandt dug the nails of his left hand into Ethan's palm hard and felt Ethans grip soften in response. He pushed the trigger on the gun with the last bit of strength in his hand , then found himself falling backward as the effects of the tranqullizer finally took hold.

Ethan felt the sting of the tranquillizer dart as it hit him in the shoulder. He flicked it out immediately but knew it was already too late. This dart was designed to release its sedation even after a second of contact and he could feel it already doing its job.

Staggering over to a desk he pulled open the drawer and took out his phone. He would use his remaining seconds to call Benji and Jane to come and help him. His hand was across the phone intending to swipe the number he needed when a long black arrow implanted itself directly between his splayed fingers, imbedding itself fully into the phone. His screen went black as the phone lost power.

Turning slowly he saw Clint Barton standing with a bow and arrow in his hand looking at him. He guessed that both Clint and Will had entered his apartment together, so that the detector only read one signal. Clint had been here waiting the entire time.

"So Will actually did manage to hit you, that will save me the trouble", Barton growled at him. Ethan made an attempt to raise the gun. "Go for it Hunt , I can fire a lot quicker than you can', Barton warned as he pulled back the bow. Ethan, really wanted to take the shot, but his fingers were not working. He staggered again, falling to his knees. 'That's it go to sleep, "Clint coaxed as he stepped closer. He had not moved the arrow even one inch. The last thing Ethan saw before the transquilizer shut off everything was Clint's smirk, "I think we win this round", he said.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 9- the inside story

Ethan awoke to feel the hardness of a floor underneath him. That was a relief after the last time he had been captured by the Syndicate. He forced his eyes open and rolled over, intending on standing up. It was only then he realized that both his arms and legs were shackled with heavy chains. He fell back down and heard a soft snort of laughter. Shuffling himself around Ethan found himself facing a clear heavy Perspex wall and behind that wall was Clint Barton. He knew it was Clint because he still wore the same clothing he had at his apartment.

It only took Ethan an instant of evaluation to know what type of place this was, a maximum security prison. He was firmly locked in a cell and so was Clint Barton. That made him snark at the former Avenger 'you do not seem that much better off Barton"

Clint put his hands on the perspex, and looked in at him. He was not restrained in any manner Ethan noted. Clint was smiling as he told him, "this is only temporary for me Hunt, for you it is the last place you will ever go', there was a finality in his voice that made Ethan's hair stand up on the back of his neck. He tried again to raise himself off the ground, but the chains and the presence of the sedative still slowed him down.

Looking around he assessed his chances, locked in a cell, chained and obviously on the short list for death. Not great odds. He was also very much alone.

That thought made him swallow hard and turn back to Barton, who was still watching him. 'Where is Brandt", he asked carefully. "Still alive for now, you will get to see him soon. Both of you are scheduled for the same end. Don't worry Hunt, it will be the way I imagine you have always wanted, going out fighting. Unfortunately even if you win one round, you lose as you get to fight another. They want to see how long you can last.' I am putting a bet on that it is not that long", Clint grinned wickedly.

"You will lose that one Barton", Ethan stated firmly. With a grim determination he tried to rise again, this time making it to his feet. He faced Barton firmly glaring him down.

Barton just gave him that infuriating grin, "mean looks hardly scare me Hunt", he stated. "I can be a mean person too Barton", Ethan warned. "Really, I am so scared", Clint mocked," feel free to come over here and get me Hunt", Clint, indicated the wall between them.

Ethan said nothing, exchanging barbs with Barton was hardly going to get him out of this situation. There had to be a way though and he would find it.

He stood there, facing the door of the cell as one hour of captivity passed by. He could feel this subtle pressure on his bladder telling him, he needed to relieve himself soon. There was a toilet in this cell, though using it chained was definitely going to be a challenge.

He was just thinking of making his way over to the toilet when he heard the sounds of the cell door being opened. Preparing himself physically, he planned to rush however came in that door.

When the shapes of two huge men became clear Ethan hurriedly changed his plans, he was not going to be able to move them one inch. 'Welcome Agent Hunt", said one of the men as he came forward and simply picked him up off the ground and dangled him like a piece of prey.

Ethan did not struggle, he could feel the power in the grip. "You are to be our guest at some planned entertainment, Barton suggested this ", giant one told him," and we think you will find it interesting"." Come now", the giant dropped him down and Ethan staggered on his feet.

He looked over his shoulder and saw that Barton was exiting his cell and that he did not have a guard with him. Obviously they considered him to almost be one of their own.

"Walk or we will drag you", the man in front of him warned. Ethan shuffled his legs forward and found a rhythm that enabled him to move a few staggering steps. He was not going fast and the giants behind him would shove him, every couple of steps.

Some of his slow movement was a deliberate attempt to gather as much information as he could on this place. So far though all he could learn was that this prison looked very secure and that did not bode well for him.

The cell doors down the corridor he was shuffling were open, though Ethan could see signs of recent occupation. He felt nervous about the location of the occupants of those cells.

From the central corridor they moved through a few heavy doors that Ethan guessed would normally be locked. They had been propped open with large chunk of wood. So the occupants of all the cells he were passing had all gone somewhere. Why did he have an awful feeling he was going to find out where they all were.

"It's through here", Ethan was shoved through the only closed door at the end of the corridor. He heard the sound of the lock bolting behind them. In front of him was a small room with a few chairs sitting facing a central large wall made completely of that same clear Perspex like material.

When he looked through that Perspex he could see a large circular space in the middle with other rooms similar to the one he was in placed around the outside. He swallowed as he realized what he was looking at, an arena, with secure viewing areas all around its diameter. The planned entertainment was most likely a fight and knowing his guests, it would be a death match.

"Welcome to the place of entertainment", giant one told him. He shoved Ethan into one of the chairs.

Ethan looked directly down into the arena. "You are only third billing today Hunt, so have a while to wait. The boss says you can have whatever food or drink you would like in that time", Giant two stated. Ethan heard the door behind them open and knew someone would be joining them soon. He wondered who that would be.

"I personally would not drink too much Hunt, its rigorous down there", Clint Barton offered as he seated himself comfortably in the chair next to his. He looked relaxed and unworried, though Ethan noted he was pale as though he was getting sick. "You will see how it works soon enough", Clint told him casually keeping his eyes upon his face. "The first victim has annoyed the wrong people and the arena is his punishment. If he manages to survive then his transgressions will be wiped. "

"I wanted to be the one who put him down, but I lost the toss, Giant one said blandly, 'so the privilege goes to my twin.'

Ethan had noted a resemblance between the giants and had taken a private bet with himself that they were related. He had not considered the possibility that they were twins though as they were not identical and therefore not part of the current syndicate plan.

"I will dispose of him quickly then it will be your turn Barton", Giant two stated firmly. "Good, I am going to make a bet on the outcome of this fight to give myself an edge over my competition", Clint stated.

Since he had been told he was third on the entertainment roster, Ethan decided he could dismiss the likelihood he was fighting Clint. Perhaps he got giant one, who was certainly capable of causing him serious damage.

Ethan began to run through strategies in his head. He heard the door open behind them and soon a third person was shoved into the chairs. He turned his head to meet the apprasing glance of William Brandt. Unlike Barton he was shackled, but by the legs only. Will was a shade paler than his brother making those weird looking eyes almost glow. Ethan guessed the drugs they were giving the twins were affecting other areas of their health. He noticed though that the stare of dislike he got from his colleague was intense. He found his face furrowing into a growl and accused, "I have you to blame for this Brandt, that whole trust me routine was well played".

"Yeah well give me points for inventiveness, I never used to have much before I met you. So essentially you are to blame for giving me all these ideas", Will told him calmly. He was seated on his other side, away from Barton who stared at him intently for a minute before dropping his gaze.

"You two can exchange more barbs later", Giant one stated with a smile. For now I would concentrate on placing bets on the upcoming fight".

Ethan scowled at him, 'I won't offer any encouragement to what will be just another way of executing someone", he stated firmly. "Please yourself Hunt, but if you don't then you do not get any advantages for your own match", Giant one stated. "That is how it works, we of course don't have money here, so the prisoners bet for favours while the victims bet for increased chances in the arena", Giant two explained. 'Yeah I am betting on our buddy giant number two, Clint stated and received a smile of approval from the large man.

"If he wins I get to move my bow and arrows an inch closer", Clint concluded. Ethan tried not to look panicked at that. He looked at the Perspex, it was most likely bullet proof so having weapons in the arena was not seen as a risk. "I thought the whole idea is entertainment, having weapons diminishes that, they are an easy kill option", Ethan stated blandly. 'Normally yes, but we give higher rewards for victors who like to toy with their opponents, maiming them in different ways is always more fun. You will see soon enough Hunt", Giant one warned.

"Yeah well I want to bet on Giant two as well, how fair is it if only Clint gets to bet on the favourite", Will chipped in. "Why don't you both state the length of time you believe the fight will take until it is concluded. Whoever is the closest gets to move their weapons for your match", giant two told them. "I suppose that is fair, Will remarked. "I wish it did not have to be fair in your case Will, but I guess I will take what I can get", Clint snarled. "Yeah well that feeling is mutual brother", Will agreed. "Save it for the arena, you too", Giant one said with a smile. I am looking forward to that match. "

Ethan felt a chill come over him, "you will be fighting each other", he stated to Clint and Will. "Yeah finally, I get to take out the weaker half", Clint spat. "So you say, I guess we will find that out soon", Will countered. 'What do I get if I win", he added.

"You get the priviledge of fighting Hunt of course", giant two stated with a grin. Will looked at Ethan, 'this time I will not go easy on you Ethan. I will kill you ", he remarked.

Giant one laughed at the expression of horror he saw flicker across Ethan Hunts face for a brief second. 'If you don't fight back you will die Hunt", he stated. 'Yeah and if I do, I die anyway. Is'nt that what all this is for", Ethan stated. He said it calmly with all hints of nerves firmly gone.

"This is so you die a slow painful death Hunt. Probably you will see you colleague go first. For all his bravado I doubt he has the skills to deal with Barton", a new voice stated.

Ethan could not see the speaker as he was standing directly behind him and he could not turn his head.

"I take it you are the leader of the new Syndicate", he asked. "Yes, I call myself Joe Bloggs, though that is not my real name. I shall enjoy the days entertainment Hunt. In particular I will love watching you die",Joe remarked coldly.

It sounded very personal and Ethan dredged his mind trying to place the voice. He could not though.

"Perhaps I wil last longer that you think", Ethan could not help retorting. "To do that you are going to have to kill both Barton and Brandt. Then that will not be the end as it will be both my large colleagues, then every prisoner who wants to have a crack. They are all here for murder Hunt and not one of them will flinch at adding another body to their already large list of victims. For them this is a life sentence that cannot get any worse. So they might as well fight hard and at least make their end, if it comes, an interesting one, Joe told him. "Now stop trying to drag things out and either place a bet or shut up. I want to get on with the planned entertainment". Giant two slipped out of the room as he finished speaking.

A few minutes later Ethan looked down to see giant two entering the arena. He could see other people in the other viewing rooms now. These were most likely the prisoners Joe Bloggs had mentioned.

As another door opened and a large well built man was shoved through Ethan braced himself for the coming brutality.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Natasha had already fought her way through 4 guys who had wanted to talk with their fists rather than their mouths. It was only after she had totally humiliated them by kicking their asses that she had been offered little scraps of information on the whereabouts of her target. He had been called Guy Lymond when he had worked for Hydra, now he called himself Yale Lock which was an obvious fake name.

She had been given a location for the man and was headed there now. As she went she prepared herself for the inevitable battle that would come. It had just been a little too easy to get this information and that told her she was walking into a trap.

For Clints sake though she had to go…

Xxxxxx

What can you see Benji", Jane asked her colleague as he peered through the binoculars at Ethans apartment. They both agreed that this was the location most likely to feature in the showdown between ethan and Brandt.

Benji had not wanted to counter Ethans wishes and interfere, but he also did not want hours of valuable time without answers to slip by. So he had compromised on keeping watch.

What he saw though was not reassuring. "I think it is already too late Jane", he stated with a nervous swallow. Jane gripped his arm hard in response to that, wondering what he was seeing. If it was Ethans body then she would never forever herself, or Brandt.

"I see a black arrow sticking out of something on Ethan's desk, obviously Barton was there as well".

"There are no heat signatures present ,which could mean that Ethan has been taken captive.", Benji concluded. "I suppose that is one way to find out where the syndicate is located, Jane mused." He is most like going to try and let us know his location". The disadvantage we have is that now there are only two of us to plow our way through possibly dozens or more of syndicate members", Jane responded.

Benji opened his laptop and searched for any type of signal from Ethan, and sure enough there it was flashing steadily only a few miles away.

"Most likely that means he is still alive", Benji stated hopefully," otherwise it would be his body we would be looking at". Jane could hear the hope in his voice and did not want to totally kill that, yet she also had to advise caution. "Unfortuntely Benji the syndicate would be counting on the fact that we believe Ethan is alive and able to be rescued. That signal is a trap .We were going to trap Brandt and Barton ourselves so I don't see that the syndicate would be any different. Ethan is not the only one they want dead", Jane said. . Benji squirmed knowing she was right, they really had no way of knowing if Ethan actually was alive.

When he searched his feelings deeply, he made a decision on how to proceed. 'I say we follow the signal anyway. If he is dead Ethan would want us to finish off the syndicate as a memorial to his memory".

Jane smiled grimly, she could hear a touch of revenge in Benji's tone. It did not bother her, because she knew what it felt like. 'This is going to be hard with just the two of us", she said. "Hunley might not necessarily offer the services of other agents. He would just say that Ethan made his own choices ".

Benji had to agree with that, unfortunately. Turning his attention back to the laptop, he found himself focusing on the second locator signal. It had moved as well. A wild idea began to come into his brain. Ethan would be proud of him, Benji decided.

"So we may have to seek other help and I know who that might be, why don't we recruit Ms Romonoff. Perhaps she even has some friends who can also back her up", Benji stated. He was hopeful her 'other friends may just be some more former Avengers. Jane agreed with that.

So they set off.

Xxxxxx

Natasha entered a back alley and found it to be eerily quiet. She could feel the gaze of many eyes looking down on her. They were well enough trained that she could not detect them and probably thought they could fool her into thinking there was nobody here.

She boldly walked down the alley, keeping herself on high alert. It was times like this that she wished Clint was beside her. He would spot the location of the watchers quickly and send an arrow in their direction.

Ahead of her Natasha noted that there was debris blocking any further progresss. Large rubbish containers had fallen over the small pathway, strewing their smelly contents everywhere. Of course it was supposed to look natural, she knew though that it was not, there were a few drag marks that told her the location of those bins was not accidental.

She just kept walking, as though she had no cares. As she neared the blockage a large man dropped from a building above to block her way. 'What do we have here, a little girl, all alone", he stated with a grin. Natasha was of course in disguise, her hair a dark brown instead of its giveaway red. She looked fairly harmless. Within a second she had flown at him and had him pinned to the ground, "I am not a little girl", she stated fiercely. The man just smiled. 'No, Natasha Romonoff you are not", he replied.

Natasha hit him hard and hurriedly jumped to her feet. The feeling of oppression grew, she knew she was surrounded. This had been a trap to snare her and probably turn her over to the authorities. There were large enough rewards for the capture of her and the other rogue Avengers that anyone might decide to try and take them out.

"Come on then", she yelled into the alley, "if you think you have got what it takes".

For a reply several people jumped down from their positions, until there were roughly 6 in front of her and about 5 behind. "Oh is that all I get", she mocked. "No we are just the front guard Ms Romonoff", one man stated, "you won't be leaving the alley".

Then he and 4 others came at her while 2 men moved away, keeping her in their gaze. The other 5 at the far end of the alley just stood there waiting.

Natasha hit the first man and jumped over his head to kick a second in the face. Another man made a swipe at her with a long hard stick. She jumped up and instead of catapulting herself over the stick like he expected, landed on top of it and kicked him hard in the head. He went down, but quickly shot himself back up onto his feet. So these were extra tough men and would not go down easily.

"Just fire the darts at her, you don't have to prove anything", one man shouted from the end of the alley. That made her anxiety peek, so they were armed. These men that thought they could just take her out in hand to hand, but were finding it too difficult. So now they were going to shoot her and probably from more than one location.

She had this horrible feeling she was not going to leave this alley. Deciding she had no other option she quickly jumped over another man's head and up onto the small balcony of a building. "Fire", she heard a man say. "A dart plowed into the wood beside her shooting up small splinters. 'You will have to do better than that", she mocked as she placed one foot on the railing and propelled herself upward again, clinging to the side of the building.

Above her head two windows opened and more darts came firing at her. It seemed like these people had thought of every escape route and had it covered. She jumped again before the darts could hit her. The only way to avoid those darts was to keep moving and that would be very tiring.

"Just give up Romonoff, at least you won't be killed", the man below her advised. No, but she would be questioned about the location of the others and who knows how 'civilized' the questioners would be.

More windows opened and Natasha could feel the trained gaze of another 6 people upon her. They were all waiting for an opportuntity to fire. She flew across the path of one expecting that he would fire and that she could avoid the dart and have it hit one of the other hostiles. That hostile did not fire immediately just waiting until she had passed enough so he would not hit anyone else. So they were clever as well as accurate, not the best combination , Natasha decided.

She climbed higher only to find more windows opening. They had certainty gone overboard in sending people after her. There must be a very high bounty on her head.

A dart thudded into a window beside her head and slid down to land beside her. That had been close. She did not know how long she could avoid being hit. Trying to get close to the men firing at her would not be easy either as the glass of the windows would be too slippery for her to gain a secure hold.

She valuted sideways as another dart was fired reassessing her options. Most likely it would be better to go back to ground level and fight her way out that way. She had just started descending when she became aware of the fact that the darts had stopped flying around her.

Looking over at the windows, she could not detect anyone, was that just a trick to make her lower her guard.

She began to smile though when she caught a glimpse of one of the IMF team. They were not trying to take her out ,concentrating on the hostiles.

Natasha kept descending until she finally found herself at the street level.

There she found several bodies lying still on the ground. Only three men were still standing and all of them were making sucking out desparate breaths as they retreated closer to her position.

While she watched a man came flying at them kicking all of them down with an ease that had her grinning wider. She only knew one man who could do that and was thankful that he had chosen this moment to come and check on her.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9- My fight song

Search for Natasha Romonoff, back alley, New York city

Benji was used to using technology to gain advantage over the enemy. A quick scan of the alley and surrounding area had revealed all the people who were armed, and most likely hostile. Many had been very inventive in their choice of hiding places and it had given him a rush of confidence when he had simply sneaked up upon them with his gun drawn and overpowered them.

Once all the hostiles in the buildings had been neutralized he and Jane had moved down to the alley level to intercept Natasha Romonoff.

When they found the hostiles unconscious upon the ground in the alley they had been impressed with Ms Romonoffs skills. It was only when a guy came running toward them that they realized that Nastaha was not alone. Benji admitted he had not detected this guy, which meant he must be shielded in some manner.

There was only one second in which to identify Steve Rogers before he hit into Benji with a jarring force unlike anything he had experienced before . As hard as he tried to stay standing he found his legs sweeping up from under him and the ground coming up fast. He hit with a force that had him groaning. Jane too had been knocked over, but with a lot less force, she lay beside him feeling vulnerable and hoping they were not on the losing side. Neither of them had the strength to take on Captain America and win.

Steve came to stand over them, "stay down, he warned. Benji did not need him to repeat that instruction, he stayed down though looked anxiously at Natasha Romonoff as she came to join her colleague. "They have helped me Steve, though being here also means that they have been tracking me ", Natasha stated. She really wanted to kick the two IMF agents for that but restrained herself . She looked around her , expecting to see the other member of the team hiding somewhere. "Where is the other one", she asked coldly. Steve looked unworried, confident he could handle whoever else had come with these people. '"Clint Barton, took him captive, I am guessing he is now with the Syndicate", Benji stated calmly. 'That is why we are here", Jane added,"we don't care what you have done to earn the status of being wanted fugitives, we just want your help to infilitrate the hiding place of the syndicate. " "Shortly after our colleagues capture we started to receive a tracking signal . It is an obvious trap. Yet if we want to rescue both of our colleagues we have to reach that signal".

Natasha felt cold again when they mentioned Clint. Beside her Steve's brow furrowed,deeper. "I am here because we got word that both you and Clint had been involved in killing Tony Stark."Everybody is now looking for you. It was not difficult to find out where you have been going Nat,"Steve stated with a glare at the IMF team. "We had nothing to do with revealing her location, Jane stated firmly. "All we want is her help". "I don't trust you, that tracking signal was probably used by other forces to find my location", Natasha accused.

She was probably right Benji thought with a wince.

Steve looked over at Natasha, 'who are these two', he asked. 'Government agents for something called the IMF", she told him. 'We met the night of Tony's death. "They were tracing their colleague who was actually responsible for the death", she took a breath, this bit was really going to shock Steve. "He is Clint's identical twin, hence why the report said it was Clint".

Steve Rogers stared at her for a whole 2 minutes without saying a word. When he finally did speak he said, "Barton really does know how to hide family members".

"Yeah well maybe it is because they hate each other", Natasha stated. "They both though have joined the syndicate and become paid assassins".

"Yes, Stark was the first target and our organization the next. The whole play of the Syndicate was to use identical twins as assassins. You end up being killed by someone you thought you could trust with your life. Our colleague was assigned this mission but Barton wanted a lot of money to help us. He does not have any love for our colleague and I think that is why he still took on the mission after he escaped. I guess it is mutual hate, which is just another problem", Benji told them.

Steve sucked in a breath. "That is a lot of problems ", he said. "These two are another problem", Nat added pointing her finger at Benji and Jane. "Why should either of us trust you".

Benji was still lying on the ground and felt the tension go up another notch. "'We don't even know what you did", Jane told Natasha calmly. "Nor do we care. IMF was going to make a deal with Barton and we can offer you the same, help us and we won't interefere when you go your own way after the mission" .If we wanted to we could have given our organization your location and have hundreds of agents here now. We did not", Jane insisted. "The tracking device was only a way to find Barton".

Steve had raised his eyebrows, "it is interesting that you don't know why we are wanted. Don't you watch television', he asked. He was not quite ready to trust these agents even though their story was compelling. 'We have been kind of busy saving the world from bad guys", Benji replied. "Please help us", he added.

Steve looked at Natasha and they moved off to one side and held a conversation. Both of them agreed they needed to find Clint and that this was the only way. They felt confident they could deal with these two agents if they did betray them. "Very well ,you have our help. Now where is this tracking signal coming from", Steve asked. Benji raised himself off the ground slowly ,feeling relieved, he took his phone out of his pocket and showed Steve the signal. "According to the data, all that is at this location is a small forest, hardly a good hiding place".

"I am guessing it is just an illusion ,so nobody will be interested. Once we get to that location we will probably find more than just trees", Natasha stated. She looked into Benji's eyes, "once we are there you will take care of your collegue and we will take care of ours", she said firmly. "You are also going to remove the tracking device you have implanted upon me". Benji was about to agree when Rogers shook his head, "lets leave that signal, most likely we are going to find ourselves up against powerful criminal forces. They will need to be taken care of and we no longer have any legal authority. We can escape capture ourselves".

"That plan sounds solid", Benji stated," I don't really want anything to do with Barton, no offense", he added quickly. "I don't want nything to do with, whats you colleagues name again", Natasha asked pointedly. Benji looked cagey still wanting to protect IMF by not revealing Will's name, "just trust the fact he will be dealt with, any extra details you don't need to know", he stated.

Natasha glared for a few seconds and was impressed that the man in front of her did not back down on offering the information. He must be tougher than he looked.

"Lets not just stand here trying to intimidate each other, we need to get going before the wrong type of people come looking for us", Steve suggested.

Benji and Jane quickly came to his side, then with Nat on their flank the foursome ran out of the alley.

Xxxxxxx

Ethan had seen many horrible things in his life, so the fight in front of him did not particularly sicken him with its brutality. It did sicken him that clearly the giant man was toying with the other one. He had already broken one of his arms and his nose, yet had left him alive to try and get in a few ineffectual hits. It was like a cat playing with a mouse.

"Are you sure you don't want to place a last minute bet Hunt", came the measured voice of Joe Bloggs who was standing behind him. "No, I don't", Ethan said firmly. "Alright, then how about for the next fight Hunt, Barton versus Brandt. I would think you would support your colleague", Joe stated.

"I do, even though you have obviously done something to him", Ethan stated. Will and Clint were not in the room at the moment and Ethan guessed that was because this man wanted some time alone with him. Ethan could hear him breathing in his ear, but still could not see his face. When he spoke his voice dripped malice. " What do you expect me to do with a member of IMF. He is not here to try and join us Hunt , no matter what he says." He signed his own death warrant the minute he walked in the door", Joe stated firmly. "With the drugs in his system he believes he can win and come to work for us. It is all a lie to get him to cooperate just a little longer".

Joe Bloggs brushed past Ethan and finally came to stand in front of him and looked him straight in the eye. "You will watch him die Hunt, either in the arena or at my hands", he stated. This was always more about my revenge. I have also activated a tracking signal from a clone of your IMF phone. Your colleagues will be on he way to rescue you. Perhaps I can arrange for you to watch them die as well".

Ethan stared at Joe blogs , struck speechless as he recognised clearly who he was dealing with, he had never expected this development. Of course Will had known the moment he had been recruited and probably felt like he did now, completely powerless. "There really is no way out Ethan", Joe said with a laugh.

Below them Giant two moved closer to the man in front of him again. He simply side stepped when that man tried to hit him and grabbed him in a head lock. Pushing the man forward, he maintained the lock.

Ethan could clearly see the mans face turn purple as the giant choked him. Then just as his knees buckled he let go. The man sat gasping in the arena. He looked like he did not care what else was done to him, he knew he could never win.

"Finish it", Joe said into a small microphone. Giant two came up to the man again. He tried to crawl away and the giant grabbed him by the leg and kept pulling. Ethan heard the shrieks of pain as the giant brutally twisted the man's body as he pulled him toward him. Finally his hand snaked around the mans neck and with one quick movement the giant simply snapped the bone. The crack sounded throughout the arena and Ethan saw the man's eyes lose their spark of life. He fell to the ground dead.

The giant stood there as both boos and cheers echoed around him. "Well Hunt, its Brandt and Bartons turn now. I would say your goodbyes", Joe blogs stated. He left the room then, just as Brandt and Barton reentered it.

"They will clean up the arena now, Giant one stated. "That will be the job of some of the prisoners that have not complied with our instructions". It may take a little while.".

"So are the prisoners members of the syndicate", Ethan dared to ask. "Some are, some are not. We have some more identical twins here who you will not get to meet.", Giant one replied. That meant they were not taking too many risks, Ethan decided.

"You two should start getting ready, Giant one stated blandly to Clint and Will. "Because Barton won the bet he gets to move his arrows 5 centimetres. I would bet on him to win if I was you Hunt", the giant stated with a smirk at Will.

"Yeah well guns works just as well and I get one of those. I won't waste time with silly games, I will just go for the kill shot", Will told him firmly. The giant did not look that pleased with that comment.

Will stretched his limbs moving his head upwards, almost as if he was looking at the ceiling. "If you were brave Ethan you would sit in mychair for the upcoming match, it has a better view of the left hand side of the arena. He pointed down with his finger. That is where I plan to kill my brother".

Clint actually laughed, 'I am so amazed you actually believe you can Will. Your naivety is amazing. I think I will reward that by killing you in that place just so Hunt can get a good view'.

Giant one laughed as well. "I placed a bet on you Clint, as have most of the arena. The odds are not in your favour Brandt".

"Yeah well that's when I do my best work", Will bandied back. He crossed his arms and did not look intimidated. Giant one, smiled again,"Come Barton and will take you to a place you can prepare for your match. Brand you have 10 more minutes before my brother comes to get you".

The giant man and Clint departed and for the first time Ethan was alone with Brandt. The doors behind him were firmly closed so there was no escape. Ethan considered that Brandt had probably been instructed to beat him up. He was shackled but could still offer his colleague some resistance.

At some stage that attack was going to come and Ethan braced himself. He almost jumped when Brandt placed one hand upon his ,softly. "As soon as I met him I knew there was no way out", Brandt stated . Ethan turned to look at him. His face was almost chalky white and his eyes glowed like they had mini torches implanted within them. Ethan sucked out a breath when he noticed one major difference within those eyes. Brandt had gotten close enough during the fight at his apartment to enable him to see the lens camera implanted in his eye. It had proably been placed there the minute the syndicate had accepted him into their ranks. If Brandt had made the wrong move while wearing that camera he would be dead. Now that camera was gone and it could only mean that the syndicate no longer thought Brandt was useful to them.

"I feel terrible Ethan, sometimes I almost loose sight of why I am here", Brandt told him shakily. Ethan touched his hand noting it was cold. "Why are you here", Ethan asked. He wanted to make sure this was not just an act and that Brandt was going to turn on him. "To put an end to the syndicate of course, I have not forgotten that Ethan. Nor have I forgotten who and am , who I work for, or who I trust ,yet", Brandt added shakily. Ethan could see pain reflected in his eyes. 'Just hold on Brandt, I know the others will come for us", he said. 'Yeah, and I know that the arena is the place both of them are slated to die. Can you imagine Benji in there or Jane. "There is no easy way out Ethan", Brandt stated. He could feel a deep ache in his very being. Like every part of his body was crying out in pain. It was getting harder to fight off the feeling that he was sliping into a dark hole. He closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of Ethan's hand upon his own.

Ethan was worried when he looked at Brandt. He understood that most of what he had done was an act to satisfy the syndicate and to prevent his own death. Yet he was also being affected by the drugs and looked very sick. Both of them needed to get out of here very soon. When he spoke he put absolute confidence in his voice as he knew Brandt needed him to be strong. "No getting out will not be easy , but then nothing worth doing is ever easy. We will find a way together Brandt. Then we will sit down and you can tell me all about Clint", Ethan stated. 'I guess finding out I have an identical twin was a huge shock. It was not a secret I could share Ethan", Will explained.

He opened his eyes and looked into Ethan's, 'I hope I get the opportunity to tell you more", he said.

The door behind them opened again then and Giant two came in, "it is your time to get ready Brandt", he stated.

Ethan knew that telling the giant Will was not well would not delay the match , anyway Will would only get sicker. "For what it's worth I wish you good luck", Ethan told him. 'Yeah well your luck will not help me. At least do me the honour of being brave and sit in my chair Ethan", Brandt stated.

With those parting words Brandt was gone and the door behind him locked firmly again. Ethan stood up and shuffled over to the seat Brandt had vacated. He leaned back and stretched just like Brandt had done. As he moved back into sitting still Ethan restrained the smile that threatened to overwhelm him, he had been right about how he had interpreted things. Now all he had to do was wait.

Xxxxxxxx

Benji, Natasha, Jane and Steve had all driven on fast motorcycles to the location where their colleagues were held captive.

"All I can see are trees", Natasha stated as she peered at the forest in front of her. Benji had opened his laptop and had it on his knees . Now was his moment to shine. "You were right in thinking this is just an illusion, there are some real trees there, but he others are just computer generated, just like what you'd get in a movie or game. Up close I doubt the illusion would hold, but most people would not want to get that close". Indeed the landscape did not look like somewhere anyone would stop for a walk or to sightsee as the trees were a very common place variety and there was nothing beautiful within sight.

Benji intensified his scans and picked up a very high grade security system. 'Whatever this place is, it has some high tech shit", he remarked. Shutting off all those sytems would no be so easy. However Benji soon discovered that he did not have to try. "According to this, the monitoring systems are off in part of the facility , there is only one portion actively under survellaince at the moment. "So that is probably where we will have to go. Can you shut off survellaince in that area Benji", Jane asked. Benji was already trying to do that and finding it difficult. Steve noting the frown on his face said, "if part of the systems are off then it is an invitation for us to go inside. I believe that is the whole point. So shutting off those other systems will not matter". "They will be waiting for us in force at that location", Jane remarked. 'Of course, but I have dealt with many forces before", Steve acknowledged.

"Lets go into the lair then", Natasha stated. They moved forward down the hill and into the forest.

Benji placed a hand on one of the fake trees and watched as his hand went right through the trunk. "Stop playing Benji", Jane stated. Benji pulled his hand pack conscious of the appraising glance of Steve Rogers. He felt a little inadequate right now.

When Steve disappeared inside one tree ahead of them, Benji held his breath, they were about to find out what they were up against.

They found closed iron double doors ahead of them. Steve Rogers simply grabbed hold of those doors and bent them inwards. Benji and Jane were impressed by his strength. To Natasha it was all common place, she was more concerned about Clint.

Behind those double doors was a long corridor with some small rooms off to the sides that looked very familiar. "This is a prison", Benji stated with an appraising glance. "One off grid, not publicy acknowledged", Jane remarked. "That means the prisoners are very dangerous", Natasha added.

"So this place is yet another version of the raft, but not quite as high security as that facility. If I can deal with the raft, then this place should be easy", Steve stated.  
"Of course, you broke Clint and the others out of maximum security", Benji acknowledged with a frown. He had an idea circulating in his mind and it was an intriguing one. "Well I did have a little help", Steve acknowledged. ". Natasha had not known Steve had help breaking the others out of the raft and guessed that was because Steve was protecting those people's identity in case the government came after them as well. He had destroyed all records during his time in the raft, so there was no way anyone would ever find out who Steve's helpers had been.

"Where is everyone", Janes question broke her from her reverie. She looked inside a cell, noting the absence of any occupant. Ahead of them the other doors were also open, it was kind of creepy.

They kept moving forward mentally counting in their heads the numbers of missing prisoners, so far they were up to almost 100.

When they encountered a locked door ahead of them they knew they were about to enter the most dangerous part of the prison. Steve simply wrenched that door open as well and they moved forward.

When Benji opened a side door he found himself standing still in shock. In front of him was a huge circular space with clear walls through which he could see a fight taking place. "Oh hell", Jane remarked as she saw who was fighting. Natasha agreed with that statement.

It was easy to tell who was Clint as he was dressed in his Avengers costume, minus the shield logo. He had just tried to land a punch to his twin only to find his hand twisted back toward him and his legs kicked from underneath him.

"I do not want to stand here and watch this", Benji stated firmly. He was about to raise his gun and shoot the wall when Steve grabbed hold of his hand. "I can see Clints bow and arrows in there, they would only allow that if that perspex like material was bullet proof". He hit it hard with his fist and winced at the pain that shot through his hand, "That is not going to break easily", he stated.

Benji took up his phone, there must be a way to hack into the sytem and somehow open the doors of that arena. He quickly found though that that was not possible as the doors on that arena were not wired into the computerized systems of this prison.

"I can't get them out either', he confessed, "the doors will only open when there is one victor".

In front of them Clint and Will were trading blows in a rapid fire way that was going to tire one of them sooner or later. Benji also noted something else, "Can't he see what Clint is trying to do", Jane remarked as she too worked out Clint's strategy.

He was letting a few blows land in order to move himself backward, slowly inching toward the place where his bow and arrows were tied to the wall. Once he had them he would fire upon his own brother. Steve hit the wall again hard with still no effect. "We just can't stand here and watch", he remarked sourly.

"I think that is exactly what they mean for us to do", Jane said in a tightly controlled voice. "They want us here to see the death of our own colleagues. You can bet Ethan is going to be future entertainment".

She could not help her eyes being drawn back toward the arena and the fight taking place. It was both horrible and fascinating at the same time. Both Will and Clint were bleeding and that blood made the floor underneath their feet slippery. "How can you watch Jane", Benji accused as he turned his back. "I trying to determine whether Will has a chance", she defended. 'He won't if Clint gets hold of his arrows, he has never missed", Natasha told her softly. When she saw the anguished look on Jane's face she added, "though I honestly wish he would, just this time".

She doubted though that after years of practice Clint Barton would fail to miss his target.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10- brothers at war

Will was dragged to the door of the arena by his hair. He made a point of digging his heels into the ground and pulling back hard against the giant's grip. He guessed the larger man would not hit out against him and spoil his chances in the arena. It was still painful to be dragged in that manner, but Will did not give the giant the satisfaction of hearing him make one sound of protest.

Finally they made it to the heavy iron door of the arena. There were only two doors to this arena, each on opposite sides. They were made from materials that would withstand all types of weapons fire, so getting out through causing mayhem inside would not work. "At least make it entertaining", the giant stated with a scowl as he shoved him through the door and closed it behind him.

So there he was standing in the arena, looking around him. He noted that he could not see anyone through the Perspex viewing walls, so they must be just one way viewing only giving those on the outside the view inside. It would lessen the possibility of distraction for those competing in the arena.

On the far side of the arena was his gun, chained to a sloping wall about 3 metres above his head. The chains looked solid crossing the weapon and cradling it securely in their grip .Getting that gun out would be a challenge. As he looked across the arena he met the eyes of his brother, who had also taken a few minutes to survey his surroundings . His bows were also chained to a wall. Of course the idea was that were expected to stop each other getting to their weapons by beating each other to a pulp.

Clint had not moved yet though, just eyeballing him steadily. He stared back unafraid. "Gentlemen you may begin", came the measured voice of Joe Bloggs.

Will did not move and neither did Clint. He was sure the entire audience were all yelling for the fight to begin, he could not hear anything though. If neither of them made a move in the next few minutes the doors would open again and the giant man would threaten to kill them both. That was the way it was in here, either fight or die.

Looking upward Will found the room where Ethan was being held captive. He sent him a silent message of strength. Ethan was not going to like seeing this fight. The glance had only lasted one second but it was long enough for Clint to take advantage of his lack of attention.

He found him coming toward him fast only just having enough time to block the blow to his head. Pain shot through his arms ,sharp like a stab, as they felt the force of the blocked blow. He found himself moving slightly backward as he felt the strength in his brothers body and had to brace himself . Their eyes met for a brief second.

Snaking his legs out quickly while Clint was looking at him, Will tried to kick Clint legs out from under him. He found that Clint simply sidestepped quickly. "A little slow Will, he mocked, "out of practice are you".He slapped Will on the back to emphasize his words. It was not a hard blow, more of a taunt, a warning of more to come.

Will decided to show him exactly how wrong his words were. As Clint came back at him he simply leapt up off the ground. Then he almost flew over the top of his brother's head to land behind him. He managed to get in a forceful kick before Clint swung back to met him.

Clint had wavered on his feet for just a second before steadying himself. He had been surprised at the power in Will's movements. He would have to wear his brother out quickly to gain the advantage. Now inches from Will he reached out with his fists to begin close quarters fighting.

For the combined IMF and rogue Avengers team it was a horrible spectacle. They were seeing two experienced fighters attacking each other with increasing ferocity and each looking for a break.

The sounds of flesh meeting flesh were clearly audible as well as the grunts made by the two men as they put all their strength into the attack . Soon blood was coating the fists of both Clint and Will as their knuckles felt the toll of their actions.

Their bodies too bore evidence of the strain, slight missteps were a blow was deflected a little too late and left a bleeding welt behind. When they counted the amount of times this happened to both men, it became clear that Will was slowly losing ground. His face was a bloodied mess, his left eye patially closed and a cut above his chin leaked blood down onto his chest. He wavered upon his feet and he came around to meet Clint again. Clint also had blood upon his face that dripped down to land on the floor below his feet. He still moved a fractionly faster than Will . When he hit out again, he knocked Will backward , almost making him lose his footing.

"Come on don't let him wear you down", Ethan grumbled out as he heard the calls for Will's death ring out around him. Joe Bloggs had mad sure he could hear every word, it was just another form of slow torture. Giant two, who sat in the other chair just laughed, he wanted Clint to win.

Clint hit out again this time only using half the force of before. He slouched a little acting like he was injured in a manner that was slowing him down. As Will moved in to take advantage Clint moved back an inch. If Will was aware of the fact that his brother's bow and arrows were now directly behind him he gave no sign. He moved in to land a punch that had Clint sprawling. Of course Clint fell even closer to his weapons. He decided that giving Will small victories like this he was ultimately going to win this match.

"We have to get them out of there", Jane stated after Natasha had apologized for pointing out how deadly Clint was with the arrows. "Yes, but we can hardly just saunter up to whoever is running this place and ask, or can we", Steve mused. "We will have to try, why don't you and I do that", Jane suggested to Steve.

"I am not just going to sit here and watch this horrid spectacle", Natasha told her angrily, she felt the desire to strike the other woman fill her for a moment. "You could help me", Benji stated firmly, as he picked up on the tension. It would be easy for an explosion to happen between them at that moment, each of their colleagues were on opposing sides and they could not help feeling personaly involved. Benji spoke with passion,"'our goal is still stopping the syndicate and there must be information on their members somewhere in thisplace. If we find it we can cripple any further changes of assassinations taking place". We might just find out where they are holding Ethan at the same time". Benji let no sign of anxiety creep into his voice, even though he had piles of it pressing down upon him. He had to channel Ethan right now and be assertive and clear about their goals.

Natasha, let out a controlled breath, she had been feeling the tension of the moment, the horror of seeing Clint trying to kill his own brother. It can't be easy for these people to witness that either and to feel as powerless to stop what was happening as she did.

At least gaining the information on the syndicate would stop these types of fights being ordered by them in the future. She could confidently leave the mission of getting Clint and Will out of the arena to Steve. He was an expert at jail breaks after all.

Nat guessed it had not been intentional that Jane had let slip her colleagues first name. It would not aid her in determining his full name though. That really did not matter now , as it looked like he was going to die at Clint's hands very soon. Clint would have to be jailed for murder for that act and it would deeply affect his family. He must really hate the brother to even consider doing that. She swallowed a lump in her throat as she thought about the recent encounter between two sides of the Avengers. It had been so difficult to side with Tony, to make the choice to to believe in something that Clint could not agree with. Yet she had not even contemplated killing him for even one second. Whatever was between the brothers had a lot of history behind it and that made it even more difficult to come between them and force them apart. Like the fractured sides of the Avengers both would believe they were in the right and nothing would probably change that. At least if they both got out of the arena alive there would be some way of salvaging both of their individual futures.

As Clint landed a blow that had more blood dripping down Will's face she turned away from the arena. She recognized the signs that Clint was going in for the kill. His weapons were only inches behind him now. "We don't have long", she warned the others as they split into two groups to carry out their individual missions.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Benji felt very nervous about having the black widow for a partner, as she was someone described as being a specialist in her field. At one time she had not cared who she used her skills upon. Her death count was a lot higher than his own. When he saw the worried look on her face he relaxed somewhat, all she was was someone who was there to help a friend, just like him.

"So what is our plan, Mr IMF", Nat asked him. She was glad she was with this member of IMF, he seemed to be easier to be with than Jane. 'Call me Benji", he invited. "We have to find a office or command center", he added.

"From what I have seen you are primarily a technical expert", Natasha carefully avoided the word 'geek', "no offense but it seems to be a lot safer than being on the front lines. So why not just stay behind a desk", she had no judgment in her voice, merely curiosity. Benji seemed to be more of a 'milder' type than she normly encountered in agents for the government.

"I supported my team leader Ethan as a technical expert on a mission and just watching him work gave me this desire to want to be more actively involved. He is a legend in IMF, once he dangled of the top of the Burj Khalifa just to gain access to a computer system, then there was the time he hung off a plane that was taking off", Benji could feel this smile on his face just talking about those events. "Of course he is extraordinary and nobody can really be like him, but we can all try and do our part in stopping the bad people of the world". Natasha could clearly hear hero worship in Benji's tone. It sounded like he was trying to live up to a legend. Yet there was no envy there, just a passion to be himself and let it be enough. She knew she had felt the same when she had fought alongside the more powerful members of the Avengers. Nat decided she liked Benji Dunn, even if he did work for any agency which would now consider her to be a rogue and therefore the enemy.

"Will is much the same, trying to be like Ethan, I even suspect that is one reason he took this mission. It does not seem to be going his way at the moment". Though I can never really tell with Will, he's harder to get to know than Ethan. This whole twin episode just proves we did not know everything about him", Benji said with a heavy sigh.

Nat knew this speech was for her benefit. She had to reassure this agent about one thing. "Look I know it seems like we too are on opposite sides, but I do not hate your Will, I am just trying to understand what it is all about, why two brothers would go to these lengths to kill each other",Natasha told him.

"I wish I knew, but as I said we had no idea Will even had a twin before this mission started". How either of them ever got away with the concealment I don't know. All I can hope now is that I get the opportunity to ask Will to explain", Benji said with a gulp.

As they had talked they had moved along another corridor, past more open prison cells and to another locked door. Benji put his gun firmly in his hand as he and Natasha kicked that door open.

Benji clearly held himself gasp as they entered a room that was identical to Hunleys office in the IMF.

On the wall the IMF symbol hung , it was also a perfect replica. One thing that was different was the huge screen. Upon it Benji could see the fight in the arena continuing to progress. Clint Barton was now only inches from his weapons and Will was obviously aware of that as he was fighting in desperation.

Benji had never seen Will fight like that before. He had a lot more skill than he had believed and he doubted that he could beat him in a match like this.

Yet Clint was even more experienced than Will and that was now making more of a difference as they both began to tire.

Benji wrenched his eyes away from the screen and onto the computer that lay on the desk, this would be the place he could get the information he desired.

He pushed the power button on the machine and waited. When nothing happened he took a closer look at the computer. "It is just a replica", he stated grimly, "with no actual functioning parts". That gave him the idea that this room was just another part of the trap.

"Oh hell", the gasping breath of Natasha Romonoff had his eyes returning to the screen. He could now see Clint Barton, climbing the sloping wall of the arena and grabbing hold of the chains that secured his weapons. 'On the ground nearby lay Will, bleeding from several wounds on his arms, face, torso and legs.

"Clint overpowered him", Natasha said in a quiet voice.

As Benji watched Will dragged himself up off the ground, he was lurching about as he moved over and reached up to grab Clint's legs. He managed to get hold of one foot and Benji could clearly see the strain on Clint Barton's face as he fought to maintain his grip on the side of the arena.

He kicked out with his other foot, landing another blow to Will's side. Will slipped back again and Clint pulled his feet up higher out of grabbing range.

Then he hit something on the side of the arena and the bow and arrows fell into his hands.

Benji saw the look on Will's face change from desperation to horror. He stopped trying to jump up and grab his brother. Instead he simply turned and started to run.

It was of course harder to hit a moving target, but Benji knew Barton would be practiced at that as well.

In a couple of seconds he was going to witness his colleagues death. Benji found tears coming to hs eyes, this was yet another victory for the Syndcate.

"It is not pleasant to watch your colleagues die", came a voice. As a team Benji and Natasha both turned toward the speaker. "Drop your weapons", came the next piece of advice as a man stepped through the large screen on the wall.

Benji found his gun slipping through nerveless fingers despite the fact he had been determined to hold on. His face, he knew had gone pale as he stared at the man in front of him.

Nat was looking at the man's weapon, which was much bigger than her own. Then she noted that Benji simply dropped his own gun. He looked like he had seen a ghost as he stared at the man in front of him.

"Do you know him", she asked as she dropped her own gun. "Lane", the name was dragged out from between tortured lips, by Benjis shocked voice. 'One of them, Joe Bloggs acknowleaged. "You have met my identical twin Soloman, that is where this new idea came from Mr Dunn."

Natasha wrenched her eyes away from the man called Lane and back onto the screen where Clint's black arrow was now plowing its path of death straight at his brothers back.

"It will be your turn soon enough", Lane number two told them. "My revenge upon Hunt and his IMF team will soon be complete." He grinned at Natasha, "I have Barton to thank for helping me". "The drugs helped of course, scrambling both of their brains like spaghetti. If you do manage to get Barton out, and I doubt that you will, he will never be the same again. It is my final piece of justice for all those who have worked for enemy agencies in the past."

Natasha decided she hated this man as much as Benji did.

She did not move though because the very big gun he held was pointing right at her head.

Xxxxxx

Steve and Jane had kept moving along the corridor outside, also past more open cells. They came to a heavy door, that looked like the one through which the brothers had been shoved into the arena.

Steve grabbed hold of that door and pulled with all his might. It did not budge one inch. So it was not going to be that easy to get the brothers out. "I really think Will must not be thinking clearly ,how could he even contemplate getting out of a trap this secure", Jane said sadly.

That statement hit even deeper when she saw Clint grab his bow and noted he had been given three arrows, obviously they intended him to wound first.`"I hope he at least has the decency to go for the kill shot", she told Steve.

Steve said nothing just watching with a pensive, strangely unworried look upon his face as an arrow plowed itself towards Wills torso.

Xxxxxxx

Ethan had a white knuckled grip on the chair in front of him as he watched Will run. He could clearly hear the sucking desparate breaths he made. It had been difficult to watch the fight, as he had almost felt each blow the brothers had traded. He will be dead in a moment", the giant man beside him told him. Around him the jeers of the other watchers told him that they thought Will was a coward for chosing to run.

Will was running straight for the side of the arena he had told Ethan to watch. He obviously had a plan but had it already gone wrong, Ethan did not know what to think as that arrow rapidly gained ground on the exhausted Will . He sneaked a glance at his captor and noted he was intent on the drama unfolding within the arena.

Will's momentum had carried him to the edge of the arena and he turned quickly to stare death in the eye. The arrow was plowing straight for his stomach. It would be a painful but not immediately lethal wound.

One second before impact Will moved, jumping straight up into the air, over the top of the arrow, It was a movement that took precsion timing.

Below him the arrow hit the wall hard.

Ethan clearly heard giant one gasp for a second. In the next he was spluttering as water came pouring out of the sprinkler directly over his head. For one moment the giant was distracted and it was long enough for Ethan to launch himself out of his seat and flip over the top of the large man to land with his chained arms around the giants throat… "He missed",the giant choked out as he struggled to get out of Ethan's grip. His clothes were already soaked through and he felt their weight pushing him down. The chain of Hunts manacles was biting deeper and the arena seemed to be going blurry.

Xxxxx

In replicia of Hunley's office Desmond Lane had thought he had the upper hand, Benji was too surprised to make an attack and the Black widow was clearly out of her league when faced by a huge gun.

In seconds Benji would be witnessing the death of his colleague and Desmond would be feeling a little less angry over the defeat of his own brother by the IMF team.

When Barton's arrow hit the side of the arena and the sprinkler system over his head acticvated shooting water down upon him, Lane was shocked enough to lose his grip on his own weapon.

"How did he miss", Lane spluttered as he stared Benji Dunn and Black widow in the eye. "Yeah I wonder how you miss a man then accidently hit the one sensitive point in the whole arena", Benji remarked as he and Natsaha leapt over at Lane.

The sprinkler had soaked Lane through and he found it harder to meet the combined blows of both Natasha and Dunn. He stumbled to the ground. But before the two could get to him he leapt sideways out of the door behind the screen. That door sealed itself instantly leaving Natahsa and Benji no way to follow.

On the screen Benji noted that Barton had now fired a second arrow. Will Brandt was running from that one too then up the wall and grabbing his gun as Bartons arrow's released the chains holding his weapon down. "That's two shots that are either highly stupid or extremely well executed", Natasha stated . She could not believe Clint would make mistakes like that. Will had either skillfully maneuvered him into making them while risking his own life at the same time, not wise when you factored in that Clint had never missed , or...

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Steve Rogers and Jane had just turned away from the heavy door when water came pouring out of the sprinklers over their heads and the door in front of them opened. Looking in through the Perspex Jane could see water also pouring out of the sprinklers all around the arena and the fact that that door to the arena was now open.

In one brief second Clint's second arrow had given his twin his weapon. Then as she watched in stunned amazement Will came to stand by Clint's side.

Xxxxxx

Clint looked into his brothers eyes, "can we end this sorry charade now", he asked passionately. '"I think you did blow the act out of the water Clint, an experienced archer does not make the mistakes you have without intending to do it.", Will stated. He reached over and took his brothers hand in his own.

Clint looked at the bloodied mess that was his brother. He had been responsible for those injuries. They had to be convincing to cement the fact in the mind of the Syndicate that Will and he hated each other passionately. His passionate hate of his brother had made the syndicate feel safe that two highly trained agents were more focused upon each other than they were on them. It had been the hardest act of his life and he felt genuinely sick to the stomach about hurting Will so much.

Then he felt his borthers hand squeeze his own and decided it was time to turn their attention to the real enemy. He only had one arrow left in his quiver."How many bullets do you have",he asked Will.

Will checked the gun,"only two",he replied. Clint looked through the door where he could see a whole mass of prisoners awaiting them. Some of them would be very disappointed they had just ruined their entertainment.

He looked down at his bloodied fists and then over at Will. The fight had taken its toll on them both and it was not over yet.

There was however one thing that was different ",we will do this together", Clint said firmly to Will.

Xxxx

"They are working together", Jane remarked as she saw the two brothers link hands. 'Yes", Steve acknowledged with a smile. He had no surprise within his voice which gave Jane the idea that somehow he had known all along.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11-standing together

The first time Ethan had looked at Brandt's phone he had asked himself why his colleague would hide the phone when it told the Syndicate nothing about him or IMF. It had just seemed like Brandt was being extra cautious. The second time Ethan looked at the duplicated information, he decided it was intended to tell him something about the twins. It hit him hard, two sets of information exactly the same with no differences, it meant that the twins were alike in their thinking. Will and Clint were not enemies, they were loyal to each other as well as the people they worked for. It meant that Clint would never work for the syndicate. Therefore the phone had not been hidden to protect Brandt, it was to protect Clint. Clint was going into this mission as the antagonist, the enemy to them and to Brandt. It was this cover that would ultimately keep Brandt safe from the syndicate killing him outright.

Clint had carried out his part effectively, making a convincing show of nearly killing them at Starks. He also looked convincing in the arena. Ethan had been shaken when he fired the arrow at Will, he of course had no idea that would be part of the act. Both Clint and Will had told him in different ways to watch the left hand side of the arena, but he had not known why.

It had been a terrible moment to watch that arrow and think that perhaps Clint was going to injure Will first, just to cement the idea he could be trustworthy in the Syndicates mind. Then came that incredible moment when Will had jumped over the arrow.

Ethan gulped as he thought of the total trust both of them must have had in each other at that moment. Clint had fired knowing that Will could evade the arrow, but there was still the chance that Will, tired and obviously injured might move a little slower than he thought.

Thankfully that had not happened and now Clint and Will stood side by side in the arena with water pouring down over their heads. At least it would wash away the blood from their injuries and refresh then somewhat, as they still had an ordeal in front of them.

Ethan looked down at the giant man who lay unmoving at his feet. He had never suspected that Clint and Will were on the same side until that last moment and it was only the element of surprise that had enabled the shackled Ethan to defeat him.

Now Ethan used his fingertips to search within the man's pockets for the key to the shackles. He was conscious of the fact that behind him the door was now open and anybody could enter this room.

There was a large amount of very dangerous prisoners now on the loose within the prison and they could decide to turn against him. Finding the key he slipped it into his teeth then moved his neck down to first unshackle his feet then hands.

He rubbed his legs furiously as the pain of restricted circulation washed over him for a moment. His senses were still firmly attuned to that door, but as yet nobody had tried to enter.

Searching the giant had not yielded any weapon which made Ethan extra cautious as he carefully peered around the doorway.

There was nobody in the corridor outside, though he could hear alot of voices, all coming from further along the corridor.

Of course Ethan went straight toward those voices.

Xxxxxxxx

Benji had kicked ,thumped and threw a chair against that sealed door in the fake IMF office with no result. Lane had escaped them and was most likely making for an exit.

With an enraged mutter between his tetth Benji turned back to the doorway. Nat had watched him and come to the decision that there was deep history between the man called Lane and Benji. She reached out to pat Benji's arm awkwardly, hoping to get his thoughts back on track. Lane may have gone but there were still a whole prison full of enraged prisoners to deal with.

When one of those prisoners entered the room and flung themselves at them with a snarl Nat and Benji moved as one, Nat striking his head and Benji his stomach. The man was knocked out in about one minute. 'We have to go now and meet up with the others, as we will need a united force to deal with all these people", Nat told Benji.

Benji still felt intense disappointment about losing Lane but knew he could not afford to let his feelings interfere with the rest of their mission.

They picked up the dropped guns from the floor and quickly moved out of the office and into the corridor.

Xxxx

Steve and Jane could see a mass of prisoners in front of them. They were not focused upon them though, just awaiting the moment when Clint and Will stepped out of the arena door.

When that happened the swell of prisoners moved toward them. Steve and Jane quickly sped forward to hit into the prisoners from behind.

Clint and Will were now standing back to back, and were kicking nd punching anyone that came near. They did not stand still moving around clockwise using mainly their fists to repel the attacks. Their feet did not join in as they needed to keep themselves firmly rooted to the floor. If they were knocked off their feet the crowd would swarm over them and they would have little chance of recovery. Fighting was a painful ,tiring process for both of them as fatigue, the effects of the drugs and their own injuries slowed them down. They still had experience on their side though and were at the moment managing to hold their ground.

That changed a moment later when Will found himself wavering on his feet as one of the prisoners landed a blow to his stomach. A familiar arm snaked around him to hold him upright, "keep standing", Clint told him firmly.

Clint still had one arrow but knew it would be little help against the mass of prisoners. Will's bullets would also be of little use to them. Both weapons could also be used against them if one of the prisoners gained control.

He closed his eyes for a second and centred himself, strangely not one blow landed, even though he could not see his opponents. Will had an extra rush of adrendline as was now like a machine ,flipping prisoners out of the way like a bulldozer. This burst of strength was not going to last though and he felt his legs buckle as two prisoners attacked him .

"The door to the outside is now open, we have to stop the prisoners escaping",Steve Rogers said in an extra loud voice.

It had the effect of clearing most of the prisoners away from Clint and Will, though a few still remained as they sensed their prey was almost at the point of exhaustion.

"I don't know how those two are keeping it up", Steve remarked as he and Jane moved closer to the twins. "Yeah, they fight well together, but I can see they are not going to last much longer", Jane told him. Indeed Will fell to his knees minutes later.

Clint moved forward to hit viciously at the prisoner who dared to try and jump on top of Will.

He was grabbed by two prisoners from behind. Clint felt himself sag, he was not sure he was going to be able to fight them off. When both of them went flying without landing any blows he was greatful that finally they had some support.

"You took your time", he said tiredly to Captain America.

"Yeah well, delays", Steve said lightly. He reached out and held onto Clint preventing him from falling to the ground, , then used his other hand to pull Will up also. "Will you look, the worse for wear ", Steve stated. "Yeah, feel crap, but its good to see you Steve", Will replied.

Jane sucked in a breath as she came from behind Steve to look solemnly at her colleague. "Do you know each other", she asked curiously. "We've met before", Will replied. He did not elaborate further.

"So someone else did know you had a twin, even when your own team did not", Jane stated pointedly . She felt like she had been left out of something and it hurt. "It is only recent knowledge and I guess they only told me because I needed to be their back up", Steve stated firmly.

"Yeah Jane, I am sorry, there are a lot of reasons I could not share the knowledge of my brother. But now is not the time to talk about them. We have to find Ethan and then get out of this place", Brandt told her.

Steve looked around the room, many prisoners lay groaning on the ground while others tried to crawl away. "If we let any of these guys escape then its just going to be one more thing those hunting us can use against us", he told Clint.

"Yes, I know Cap and I did think of that. While the doors to the prison itself will open when the sprinklers are triggered the main doors to the outside will not. "The prisoners will be contained within the exercise yard". They also cannot obtain access to any weapons and that includes the guards ,my arrow took out other systems as well. It was all part of the plan". Clint smiled, Lane had never seen the betrayal coming, thankfully.

"There's something I need to say about Lane", a familiar voice stated quietly. They turned to see Benji ,who had a look upon his face that immediately gave Will a cold feeling right down his spine. "He got away", Benji uttered those three awful words and expected Brandt would yell at him.

He did not, just sinking down to his knees again despite the fact that Steve was still holding on to him.

"That man is an utter bastard", Clint growled, "we cannot let him leave this facility or he will regroup. I have never seen any other identical twins at this place and I think I know why. There must be another prison somewhere where the other half of the set are kept. We were only brought to this one together because they wanted to make use of us."

Steve sucked in a breath, "then you are right we do need to stop Lane and take him alive so he can tell us what he knows".

"I very much want to go with you and stop Lane", Benji stated firmly, "but there is also Ethan to think about."

"We were with him for a time, in one of those viewing places. He was shackled beside with Giant one and would have had a few seconds to use as a distraction when the sprinklers were activated", Clint stated,"I don't doubt that he would have used those seconds wisely. He would have escaped and is probably looking for us right now."

Clint reached down and held onto Will's hand reassuringly .He knew Will was worried about his team leader . Will would be of little use to him now as it looked like his twin could not even make the effort to rise again.

"Then I will go and search for him. It should be safe enough since most of the prisoners will be trying to escape", Jane stated. Steve pondered that for a moment, he did not want one lone woman wandering around in a prison filled with men.

"I would go with you but I don't think I can actually move", Will told his colleague. Steve grimaced at that, he could not leave Will here either. Benji bit his lip, he burned with a deep fire to go after Lane and to put one of his fists squarely in the man's face. Yet he could not abandon a team member either. "Jane, I will go with you", he stated firmly.

Jane nodded and gripped Benji's arm firmly, she knew how much that simple offer had cost him.

"You don't have to worry about Lane, Clint touched his one arrow almost lovingly, "he's not going to get away".

"I think we still have a problem", Steve whispered into Clint's ear, he discretely nodded at Will.

Clint moved over , then knelt down beside his twin. 'It is almost over Willie", he said, "just keep going awhile longer, for me. " He hugged his brother close and they stayed like that for a moment almost obvilious to the fact that everyone was staring at them.

Almost as if Clint's words had provided him extra strength Will struggled back onto his feet. He stood straight beside his brother, "I am ready", he told Steve.

Steve wasn't sure that this was not an act as Will still looked like he could fall on his face at any moment. In fact when he snuck a good look at Clint, he looked the same. These two were only functioning on grim determination.

He knew though that both of them needed to see this through.

"Alright lets go", he said to Will, Clint and Natasha.

Benji and Jane moved in the opposite direction, heading back into the body of the prison.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ethan had ducked into one of the open cells for a moment and taken a drab coverall. He had quickly put it over himself, draping the hood up and over his face. Thus disguised he had simply joined the mass of prisoners. Not one of them commented upon his appearance, they most likely did not know everyone in this prison.

If Ethan craned his neck and looked over the prisoners heads, he could see a giant man in the lead. Since none of the prisoners looked uncomfortable about following the giant Ethan guessed they must be heading for an exit point.

Water was still pouring out of the sprinklers to rain down on the heads of everyone. It made the mood of the prisoners rather ugly and he guessed it would only take a few words to cause this mass to riot.

Perhaps that was the giants plan, to use this mass of prisoners against someone. That made him feel a burst of happiness, as it could mean that Benji and Jane had come to rescue him. He hoped they had bought some back up.

He kept following the mass through door until he could clearly see a courtyard ahead of him.

There in the large grassed area stood another mass of prisoners. Ethan swallowed, this could quite clearly be classed as an army, and even though they were unarmed, he had no doubt that some of them were very dangerous people skilled in all forms of fighting.

"Shit", he thought to himself. He stayed still amongst the mass waiting for the explosion to happen.

Xxxxx

Benji and Jane had also thought to clothe themselves in prison drabs and had joined a group of stragglers who seemed unworried about the water pouring onto their heads.

Jane made sure to keep a hood well down over her face to hide the fact that she was a woman.

"Aren't we getting out of here, I have a nice warm girl waiting for me", Benji stated in a wining voice.

"Yeah well, I am not so sure we are getting out of here", one prisoner said to him. "Bloggs is in charge and I seriously doubt he is going to let us all go." I am not keen to meet up with him as I was scheduled to be in the arena next week".

Benji sighed inwardly at that it seemed like they had met up with the wrong people. '"I want to get out of here, he stated, "maybe there is a way that Blogg's does not know".

"You are dreaming, he knows everything, but I guess what you do is your problem. The doors to the exercise yard will be open and that is where everyone else will be. Go and take your chances if you want to. As for us, I think we shall just enjoy a moment to sing in the rain." He started to dance to and the other 4 men laughed.

Benji and Jane hurried ahead of the 4 moving further down the corridor until they could see a huge courtyard ahead of them. An army awaited them and at the head of that army was Lane

"Oh shit", Jane stated. "I agree, said Benji. How were they ever going to get through that mass of prisoners to apprehend the man.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Are you sure you can keep going Clint", Steve asked as he saw the archer stumble.

Clint just nodded. One hand remained firmly linked to his brothers who had also almost fallen.

He knew his energies were flagging and that probably Steve was going to have to carry both of them soon.

Right now he had to focus ,as the courtyard was just ahead and an whole army of prisoners awaited them.

That was not much of a problem for Steve but the others would soon find themselves overwhelmed .

"I am not keen on this plan of yours", Steve said indicating the army. "Yeah well the rest of the plan is not quite ready yet", Clint stated tiredly.

He watched as Lane climbed on top of a tall platform and faced the mass of prisoners. The platform was high enough that the prisoners could not make a grab at him . All of them looked up at him and murmured as they awaited the next development. "He's going to give them a rousing speech and turn them all against us. Then while we are busy holding off the prisoners he will escape out of the main entrance ", Clint predicted.

Sure enough Lane, used the prisons address speakers to allow his voice extra volume as he faced the mass of 400 prisoners. "Gentlemen, our enemy is within our midst. Clint Barton had betrayed us and brought an attack force within these walls. However there is a price on these peoples heads. A share of money can be sent to your families to allow them to lead better lives and the bounty is high enough for you all. Once they are dealt with I will leave the main doors open and you can all take your chances a freedom", he stated.

Below him the men murmured at the word freedom. It was so close that they could feel its power. Only Lane ,as the commander of the facility had the abilty to open the outer doors. Even as a mass their combined power would not shift the security fencing even a little bit. So they might as well do as he said. As one they turned to see their enemy, the two identical men, an attractive red head woman and another man who had first glance just looked rather ordinary.

"Its Captain America", Ethan made sure he said that in a different accent. He hoped that might make some of the prisoners decide not to attack. Steve stood up straighter in response, his gaze fixed and determined, there was almost an aura of power about him now and Ethan found a shiver travelling down his spine, and admitted he was afraid of the man right now. But would prisoners desperate for escape feel the same.

The mood of the crowd shifted as several stopped moving toward the group, they had no desire to die and the path to freedom was actually not in the hands of Captain America anyway. Everyone was waiting to see who made the first move.

Ethan wove through the crowd trying to get as close to Steve and the others . He had to be careful not to draw to much attention to himself. If captured he could be used against his own team. Thankfully everyone was still paralyzed and staring at Captain America. Steve casually grabbed hold of a thick piece of wire and snapped it like a twig. "That could have been your arm, he said casually. "Feel free to come and attack me if you think you can win".

Nobody stepped forward to try and test that claim. The courtyard was like the eye of a hurricane, calm and quiet, but it could not last.

Seeing the hesitation in the crowd, Lane yelled, "he's just a man, and can be overwhelmed by force of numbers".

"Yeah everyone ,do his work for him", Clint countered harshly, "maybe he is too afraid to take on Rogers himself".

That comment made the murmuring increase. Many of the prisoners would only do what Lane wanted because they were afraid of him. Lane sensed the shift in the mood , he knew that many of the men obeyed out of fear of being the next one in the arena. But the prisoners were not the ones that were going to protect him anyway.

He cast a sideways glance at the gate and decided it was time to leave," initiate alpha protocol", Lane yelled.

That made several hooded prisoners start to move. They simply hit others out of their way as on mass they headed for the gate. Their were at least 100 of them Ethan noted.

These had to be the hidden syndicate members and they were now minutes from escape. Clint raised his bow only to find that his hand were shaking a lot. He was not going to be able to make an accurate shot.

Jane and Benji had slowly made their way through the mass of prisoners to stand almost directly in front of Steve. Nobody tried to stop them as they moved closer.

Steve stepped forward ready to flatten thses two more bold prisoners. Benji quickly unveiled himself and moved to stand alongside Clint.

As he did so another prisoner moved out of the crowd and pulled down his hood as he stood alongside his teammate. "Ethan", Benji greeted with a smile.

Giant two ,in the midst of the crowd swung around with a look of distress upon his face. He began to move toward them ,punching anyone who got in his way hard enough to knock them out . Rage was settled upon his face, a fierce state where he wanted to kill Ethan Hunt.

The rest of the prisoners just stood watching as the giant closed the gap upon Rogers and his team.

Lane decided to take the opportunity of the distraction and get himself and the members of the syndicate out of the gate.

He began to input his code into the keypad beside the gates locking mechanism. Lane shielded his body behind a pillar so that Barton's one arrow could not be targeted at him.

Clint knew he had to fire now or lose the opportunity."Benji, help me", he requested. Benji came upon alongside Clint slowly, a little anxious about what the archer wanted him to do. "I am on your side Benji Dunn", Clint told him reassuringly, "I know some things about others using you for their own means, now is your opportunity to strike back. Hold my arm steady", he requested.

Benji did as he asked holding Clint's arm as he took aim. It did not seem like the archer was aiming at Lane though. Indeed when the final arrow was shot forward it headed toward the keypad and hit square on, frying the mechanism. Lane now had no way of opening the gate

Unfortunately that had the effect of all the prisoner turning toward them, now all seeing them as the barriers to freedom.

As a mass the prisoners surged toward them. The good side of that was that giant two was pushed aside by the mass. He began to hit prisoners out of the way as he tried to get to Ethan. Seventeen prisoners charged straight into Steve Rogers. On the fringes Ethan, Jane, Benji , Nat ,Clint, and Will were hitting others out of the way. When one of the prisoners attacking Steve was grabbed and thrown at the others like a missile Ethan thought of bowling. The impact of the man had the effect of knocking the others flying and Ethan was tempted to yell strike.

Will felt the world shift slightly as he fought, his head began to swim and he felt rather detached from fighting. Seconds later found himself falling to the ground. Ethan hurriedly pulled him back from the mass. Steve was managing to keep most of the prisoners away but they were still outnumbered. He could no longer see Lane and the others.

The mass were pushing at them and it was becoming harder to move. "Back up now, toward the prison and away from the yard, Clint told them," they may not all be able to follow us". He started to move back and found his legs folding instead. He fell to the ground next to Will. Ethan pulled Clint backwards and quickly assessed him. When the archer could not be roused even by applying pain Ethan knew they had another problem, now they had two unconscious agents they needed to protect.

He looked up to see the giant man standing there with a look that clearly meant death upon his face. Steve moved over to stand in front of him. The giant though was now close enough to see Will and Clint lying on the ground. A smile cam across his face, "this is the last stage of the drug, he stated harshly, they will be dead within two hours. "I guess I can be satisfied with that as revenge. Good luck in getting out of here Hunt", the Giant stated. He then pivoted and turned away.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12- the name of the game

"Ethan Hunt had been in many tight situations and had used the cunning and skill he had gained from years of being an agent to extract himself. Now he was in a prison full of people with two of his own team only hours from death. "I am not sure why Will thought this was a good idea", he grumbled. "He and Clint have a plan", Steve Rogers told him, he looked down at his friend lying unmoving on the ground, 'it does not seem to be going well", he decided. "We need to see if we can help them", Benji stated, "this prison must have an infirmary or if it is used by the syndicate, perhaps even a type of laboratory where we find a cure", he was reaching for straws he knew, two hours was not long enough to solve a complex medical problem. Ethan looked over at the mass of prisoners being held off by Steve Rogers. The man made it look effortless. He knew the rest of them were exhausted and with both Clint and Will down, they could easily find themselves being overwhelmed. "Okay, lets make a tactical retreat, back into the prison facility ", he decided. Steve took the opportunity to throw two more prisoners over his head then walked backwards, keeping his eyes on the mass of prisoners as he did .They drew back a little toward the outer doors, "look the mighty Captain America is actually running away", Desmond Lane shouted. That made Ethan stop and look at the younger man. He had heard many things about this man and knew that he could easily handle the prisoners all on his own. Yet he was going with them. Ethan hurried to his side, "Is there something going on you have not told me, he asked. Steve smiled, this agent had good intuition, "as I said there is a plan". Ethan, breathed out, "Will did not share any plan with us . I wonder if he would have ever told us he had a twin, if it had not been necessary to stop the syndicate" , he remarked. "Somehow I doubt he would", Steve acknowledged.

They were working fast as they talked securing the outer doors and dragging Will and Clint into safety. "It still feels raw, I thought that Will would trust us", Benji stated. Steve put a hand on his shoulder, 'if it makes you feel better I only knew because I met Will in a circumstance when I knew it was not Clint", Steve stated. He did not add more. 'I sense a story there", Benji remarked. 'Indeed, Steve acknowledged, "but I do not think I should share that story.'

He thought back to the moment he had found out what had happened to all those that had served by his side during the 'civil war' incident. 'It was shocking to learn that apart from Natasha all of them were in the raft. How could they put fundamentally good people in a place like that. He felt anger fill him and knew he had to do something to free his colleagues.

With Nat lying low delivering the news of what had happened to Clint to his wife became his responsibility. Laura Barton sobbed in his arms, "I will need to move myself and the children somewhere else", she told him after the storm of tears had passed. "This place may now be known to the authorities and I could easily find myself under constant surveillance . I do not wish my children to be harassed" . Laura rubbed her eyes. "Perhaps I could help find you a place Laura", he suggested. He looked her in the eye, "Clint will be joining you there", he promised. She smiled at him, knowing it was not just idle talk. "You are going to get him out alone", she asked. Steve nodded, "I cannot endanger anyone else". Laura took a breath, she knew what he was capable of, yet she still worried. He was a wanted man and they would do anything to secure him. "You should not go alone", she told him. "Clint gave me a number to call in the event of an extreme emergency. It will give you the services of someone we both trust without doubt. That person would want to help you on your mission to free Clint. " Steve shook his head, "this is a highly secure facility Laura, I will need someone with combat skills as well as extreme cunning". Laura looked at him in a way that was rather curious, she went over to the wall and moved a picture. There was a safe behind that wall and that surprised him. When he saw that the only thing inside that safe was a piece of paper, he knew that Clint Barton had more secrets. "Phone the number Steve", Laura said to him.

So he had ,arranging a time to meet this person. Of course he had to be careful, so it was a lonely place in the middle of nowhere. When a masked man climbed down from a motorcycle Steve did not hesitate, he just attacked that man. The man did not resist at first. He sat on top of him and pulled the mask from his face. Then he just froze, staring at the face he had revealed. Clint Barton looked up at him, yet he knew it could not be Clint. 'The next minute the guy hit him hard, throwing him backwards and then getting to his feet. "Clint", he protested, not sure what else to call this person. 'Obviously not", Will responded harshly.

Steve just could not get anything out of his frozen mouth. He just stared. 'Hello, Steve Rogers, my name is Will", the man stated, "I am Clint's identical twin". "No way", Steve muttered reaching forward to actually touch the other mans face. 'Get off", Will let him touch for about 1 minute then slapped his hand away. "What has happened to my brother", he demanded. his voice was firm, with an element of anger and fear. Steve swallowed, then told him.

Will took it better than he anticipated, "so what's our plan then", he asked. Steve still said nothing, just studying the man in front of him, "he never told us he had a twin", he stated. 'Yeah well its a big secret Rogers, even from both of our agencies. It is better that way, well thats what Clint reckons anyway", Will replied.

Steve took it in, he had recovered from the shock of Clint's secret family awhile ago, now it looked like that family was bigger than any of them had anticipated. He thought over Will's last sentence and realised he had just admitted to working for a Government agency. So he was at least trained to a high level. " Do you fight with a bow as well Will", he asked.

"No, that is only Clint's thing. I can fight though. Now Steve Rogers, can we get onto the part where we go and rescue my brother", Will asked. "You would be acting against the law Will", Steve stated. "Yes, I do know that Roger's. If I get caught I join my brother. That would not be so bad as at least we would be together. However I don't intend to get caught". Will stood and looked him in the eye. Still Steve hesitated. Will then punched him in the face. It actually hurt.

So he had not been alone when he broke into the raft and busted the others out of there cells. Of course Will wore his mask firmly in place.

Later he was treated to the sight of seeing Clint Barton enfold Will in a huge hug. 'Its nice to see you brother." He then paused, "we might have a problem though, have you heard of an organisation called the syndicate". Will had gone rather pale. "Why", he asked. "Just that a guy in the raft tried to stick me with a very large knife, he said it was revenge from Lane of the Syndicate." Since I don't remember anyone of that name I guessed it was a case of mistaken identity", Clint explained.

"The syndicate is supposed to be dead", Will stated. Clint shook his head, "I got the feeling it is very much alive Will and they are planning something big." "They think they have a fool proof method of carrying out their plan". Will blew out a breath, "I will have to inform IMF", he stated. "To help you I managed to get the guy to tell me how they were going to carry out their plan. He was smug enough to suggest that their was nothing IMF could do to stop that plan". You see Will, they are going to use highly trained assassins, that also happen to be identical twins". Clint stared at Will like some type of non verbal communication was going on. Finally Will said " then I guess it is time for our secret to be known".

xxxxxxxx

They had decided that being enemies would be plausible to both IMF and the Syndicate .It had been a very convincing act and if he thought about that he realised how much Clint and Will actually trusted each other.

There was a very interesting story here somewhere. But it seemed they might never hear that story. Both the twins lay at his feet, pale and barely breathing. He could not actually believe that both of them had done this willingly.

Steve looked over at the now closed doors. Lane's twin was on the other side and it seemed like only minutes from escaping.

As he looked down at his friend, it seemed that his chest stopped moving . Steve found himself beginning to panic. There was no way he wanted it to end like this. Surely Clint could have thought of another way out of this other than death for both him and his brother.

He realised a small sound of grief had slipped past his lips and Natasha and the IMF team were all looking at him. He knelt down beside Clint as Natasha hurried over to cradle the archer in her arms. Ethan had also knelt beside Will and Steve could see the glint of tears in his eyes. It did not look like Will was breathing either. It had not been two hours yet. Maybe though their condition had progressed more rapidly than Lane had anticipated.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

Outside in the courtyard Desmond Lane was smiling even though he felt the sting of betrayal. Will Brandt and Clint Barton had been playing him all along. But since he never really trusted anyone, using the experimental drug to control them had been inspired genius. Now both of them would die and his revenge upon IMF would be complete. The only thing that bothered him was why Captain Steve Rogers had left the scene. That man dripped honour and yet it seemed like he was actually letting him escape. Something did not feel right about this . He looked down at the prisoners who were all eager to get out of the prison. The only thing between all of them and freedom was a very tall security fence. It was electrified with enough juice to instantly kill anyone who attempted escape. That security charge extended upward into the air, several metres over the top of the fence. Barton's arrow had ensured the control of the facility had slipped from his command. He could not simply open the gates as he had originally planned, damn the man. Lane remembered this story from his childhood, "you can't go over it, you can't go under it, so..."We've got to go through the fence", he said with certainty.

"Get everything you can and throw it at the fence, we need to overwhelm the system".He was sure that would work. The fence could not withstand the combined force of all the prisoners attacking it at once.

Combined force...thinking about those words raised the air on his arms. "An act, it was an act", he muttered to himself, "does that mean, oh no", suddenly Desmond Lane knew why Steve Rogers had left the courtyard. As he watched he saw something come there way, sun reflected upon metal, it was moving fast. It was his end coming to get him. "Bastards", he swore.

...

As one both Steve and Ethan reached out and pressed their fingers to the sides of their colleagues necks. When an arm shot up to encircle his own, Steve Rogers jumped back . Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ethan make a similar move, Will was suddenly sitting upright. It was like that movie he had watched with Tony one time, Frankenstein, the original one.

"You were faking", Benji spluttered in disbelief. Steve could see that their collapse had not entirely been an act, both were still pale. But strangely their eyes no longer glowed.

"Kind of", Clint acknowledged. He got off the floor and staggered over to Will. Will smiled at him then enfolded him in his arms. "So right now Lane is escaping and you two are happily having a family reunion", Benji grumbled. He knew he should not sound so sour, but he really needed Lane's twin captured .

"Right now Benji, Desmond Lane believes he has won". He is about to learn that celebrating too early is a mistake", Will replied. "All of this has been part of an act", Clint added.

Ethan looked at them, "all of it", he repeated. He smiled, totally confusing Jane and Benji. When the sounds of rapid gunfire broke out behind the doors, then a small explosion rattled and bent the door inward they knew that Will and Clint had kept more things from them.

"Stand down now", a voice boomed. It sounded familiar, Natasha gasped audibly, turning to stare at Clint and Will. 'You didn't really think I killed Tony Stark", Will stated. 'He's helping us", Natasha said that in a tone of total disbelief. "No, I just pissed him off enough that he would come after me, "Will paused. "He believed I was Clint. Mr Stark does not know the truth about us", Will pointed at Clint.

"Tony believes I have been recruited by an enemy organisation and he is here to shut them down and take me into custody", Clint explained. "That is why we are here, behind these doors. He is also under instructions to take any former Avengers with me into custody. It is time for this mission to become one that is solely under the command of the IMF. Steve and Natasha were never here".

"Will cannot be found here either", Clint added. Will pulled away and looked at him. "We both leave here together that was the deal brother". "Indeed it was Will", Clint acknowledged.

"So we are just leaving without seeing what happens to Lane", Benji protested. 'Tony will take him out", that is what happens. He is on a most wanted list himself and there is no coming back this time", Clint told him.

"We have to make sure the syndicate is really dead Benji. Lane has records stored within this facility. While he is being distracted by Tony you will take those records. Steve, Natasha, Will and I are going to get out of here. We need Tony to be able to concentrate on the inmates and not us", Clint stated.

He stumbled slightly causing Steve to reach out to support him. " You were both drugged, so there must have been some side effects", Steve pointed out. "We knew which drug was going to be used before we went into this Steve. So we took measures to ensure it would not be fatal. My informer in the raft was very helpful. Since he thought escape was impossible he unfolded all of the syndicates plan. Nobody in the raft cared what he said, or would do anything to stop him and that includes the authorities. But once it was rumoured that I was helping them, Tony would be given offical licence to come and stop me. That is what the accords did, made taking sides a selective process", Clint told them.

"We don't know what these accords are remember", Benji stated. "Essentially the Government wanted to control the actions of the Avengers. We would have to get approval before we acted upon any trouble caused by undesirables around the world". Some of us agreed with that, others did not. It fractured the Avengers. I am sure many of the worlds most dangerous people celebrated about that. I believe though that one day we will be together again", Steve told them. They were close to that now with Tony right outside the door. But Steve knew if he stepped out Tony would want to fight with him again.

Another explosion rocked the doors . They were moving rapidly away from them now and the shaking seemed insignificant. "Sounds like Tony has not lost his enthusiasm", Clint remarked. He led them to a small plain looking room. "This is Lane's actual office, the other was a fake." While he watched Will a lot, he did let down his guard a few times with me. He thought my mind was to scrambled to notice where he was going and who he was talking with".

"Before you do your thing Benji, you ,might want to watch this", Clint tapped a button under the rickey desk and a screen dropped down. He gave them all a view of the courtyard. Iron Man hovered over everyone, and most of the prisoners had their hands in the air. They could see Lane, still shooting wildly at the Avenger. Tony was just moving sideways with ease. "I am sure Stark bought back up", Steve remarked. "He's just playing with them, he's like that sometimes, has to just show off".

"Yeah well he should be careful Lane has an arsenal. When he recruited me, he should have accounted for the possibility that the Avengers would come looking ", Clint stated. He had just finished speaking when Lane switched from using a machine gun on Tony and pulled out something that looked a lot more dangerous. It was like a rocket launcher, yet it had more than one projectile. "Throw anything you can at Iron Man", Lane ordered. 'It is the only way to destroy him". He sounded like he was hoping to distract Tony. He did not care if Tony fired upon the prisoners. It could give him time to escape.

Steve found himself swallowing hard, then he said, "I am going to help Tony". Natasha gave him a look that burned right through him. "He won't hesitate to take you into custody Steve, this time they might put you out of action permanently." "I know the risks Nat", Steve told her.

Clint grunted, "If you didn't try to help you wouldn't be the man we would die for Rogers", he told Steve. "You are not dying with me today", Steve told him. 'Go with the IMF team and get out of here. You will need a doctor to check you over"."

Benji was tapping into the prisons security system and getting the list of names. "I will be finished in a couple of minutes", he told them. "Then you get out of here". Steve smiled, "it is about to get a lot hotter".

Steve nodded at them all then ran out of the office and down the corridor. Natasha shifted from leg to leg, then swore loudly in several languages. "I am going as well", she told them. Clint sighed heavily. "I still want an explanation Clint , so I will see you later", Natasha said. She gave Will a long look. "Nice to kind of meet you", she told him.

Will just nodded, he looked like he was not capable of much and so did Clint. Natasha had to trust that now they were on their feet they could get out of the prison on their own. She left the room at a run.

"I have all the information we need", Benji stated. He looked onto the screen and saw the doors bursting inward as Steve Rogers propelled himself into the courtyard.

"Now thats what I call making an entrance", Clint muttered. He really wanted to run out of the room as well, to fight by his colleagues side. To feel like they were together again. His legs were wobbling a little too much now though. He needed his energy to get out of the prison.

"Most likely Tony will bring in Government forces", Clint told the others. "We should help Steve deal with the members of the syndicate", Ethan remarked. "He can do it all on his own Hunt", Clint countered. "Though I do understand the sentiment." We do not want to be a liability to him. Perhaps though we can make sure Tony Stark concentrates on the real enemy and not Steve and Nat."

He looked over at Benji. 'This prison has a person address system, I think broadcasting all those names will make sure the syndicate dies a permanent death". "Could you do their photos as well Benji, like a movie", Will asked. "I will see what I can do, someones arrow played havoc with a lot of the systems". Benji sneaked Clint a look.

"Yeah well I had to bring the systems down or else we would be in a shit load of trouble right now", Clint told him.

"We are in a shit load of trouble Clint", Ethan pointed out. "This is a maximum security prison and getting out is not going to be easy".

...

Steve had grabbed hold of a twisted piece of metal as he came running out of the doors. He whirled it around and threw it with all his might at the projectiles Desmond Lane had fired at Tony. It hit one then spun off into the others . The missiles exploded sending pieces flying in all directions.

It seemed like time stood still for a moment as Lane looked back at Steve then Tony. They were together if even for an instant and he was target for both of them.

Taking advantage of the distraction Tony fired at Lane, blowing him from the top of his viewing platform. The man fell hard to ground, lying at the feet of the prisoners. Then the glowing eyes shifted and they stared right at Steve. "Hands in the air as well Rogers, I will not hesitate", Tony warned. Sure Steve had helped him, but he was still angry . Since he could not see Barton he had to satisfy that anger elsewhere.

Natasha stood just beyond the doors where Tony could not see her. She had to think of something quickly.

Steve put his hands in the air. At the same time the address system began to utter a name and a picture was displayed upon a drab wall. These men are members of the Syndicate, they are all wanted for violent crimes. Please apprehend and hold them". It was Benjis voice and Steve found himself smiling, now Tony had a lot of targets and was going to be very busy.

Indeed as one man tried to flee Tony was firing at that mans feet and did not see him slip away. Or maybe he did and just did not choose to act. Well Steve could hope that might be the case.

He joined Nat behind the door. "Now we can get out of here", Steve told her.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13- the hardest choice

It was quiet around them, almost as if they were in the eye of a hurricane. They were in Lanes office watching the events unfolding within the courtyard. Tony Stark in his Iron Man suit was holding the mass of prisoners at bay with the help of drones. These little machines were heavily armed and threatened to rain death upon anyone caught trying to escape.

Lane was being kicked by several prisoners, who no doubt blamed him for the change in fortune. His body was curled in upon itself , protecting himself from their blows. He was not moving at all, though none of them thought he was dead. "Stop that now", came the amplified voice of Stark. The prisoners reluctantly gave up their sport , murmuring and eyeing Iron Man. Their mood was ugly, but as yet nobody had challenged Iron Man. It was time for Stark to make sure they knew who was in charge.

"Down on the ground everyone, hands behind your backs and do not move", Tony insisted. "If you move you chose to die here and now". Every prisoner complied. All of them had life long prison terms, so really there would be no consequences for what they had done. If they made a stand though, they would die and nobody took that lightly. The battle for freedom was over and the only option was surrender. There would come another day, all of them believed in that. One day Stark would be in chains and they would be free, today was unfortunately not that day. Iron Man waited until everyone was still before ordering the drones down to subdue the prisoners. He kept guard, making sure this process went smoothly.

Benji finally felt a weight lift from him as he watched Desmond Lane's arms being bound firmly. He would most likely join his twin in a facility that was more secure than this one. When an alert sounded on the computer console Benji saw that Iron Man's human backup had finally arrived . " Government forces are converging on the facility. They will deal with the other members of the syndicate", Benji told the others. He felt relived yet cheated at the same time. A fist in Lane's face would have felt satisfying. Still the man was captured and Iron Man would see to it that he did not escape. He could go home now, stand under a hot shower and wash away the pain and fear that had been part of his life since the Rogue Nation mission. Maybe once he had done that he would take William Brandt out for a beer and thank him for bringing the syndicate to its knees. For the first time in a while Benji Dunn found a smile forming.

That smile froze when Steve Rogers reentered the office and stated "The Government forces are not here for the members of the syndicate". "Myself, Natasha and Clint are the ones they want. We will either go willingly or they will carry us out in body bags".They will have high powered weapons with them. This is one fight you do not want to get caught within".

Ethan shook his head firmly, he would not hand over the man who had just helped him end the syndicate. 'We will say you are working for us", he told Steve. They had after all purchased Clint's loyalty, that was on record. Once safely within IMF the wanted members of the team could find a safe place to hide. Benji could easily erase all traces of that hiding place from the data base.

To carry this out he would be firm, defiant , looking these forces in the eye and daring them to disagree. This was Captain America for goodness sake and he was not a bad guy.

He was about to get a dose of cold water in the face though. "It does not matter what you say Hunt. They will still take us. This is bigger than you, than IMF. If you side with us, you share our fate",Natasha told them sadly."The people behind the accords are important ones, Government leaders ,and it is not just the U.S. that is involved". "That means that if you even attempt to stand up for us you will be branded a rogue again Ethan, and it will not be IMF who hunt you down", Clint warned."They would put you, Benji, Jane and anyone else in the raft as well." He coughed a little swaying on his feet again. The familiar strong arm of Will braced him firmly .

Ethan found his eyes wandering to Will's and holding his gaze. "You brought me here Will, I thought you would have a plan for getting your team out of here". Will's team were former Avengers and that was awe inspiring. But what Steve Rogers and Clint had said chilled him. If he took these legends with him, into IMF, they would most likely be forced to give them all up. He knew IMF would not stand up for Roger's and the others, even though they had helped defeat a dangerous adversary. This was a political decision, IMF would not fall beside SHIELD. He was feeling despondent, like he was being forced into a horrible choice, arrest them himself, hand them over in chains, subdued ,then walk away and not care what happened next. That is what IMF expected from Ethan Hunt, agent. He looked over at Steve who had a measuring look upon his face. Of course he might guess what was on his mind. He had no doubt Steve Roger's would flatten him if he even tried to touch him or any of the others. Right now he really did not know what to do.

"Of course I have a plan Ethan", Will smiled at him, seemingly aware of his thoughts. Thank goodness. "So share then", Benji insisted. "I will but first I want you to know I am sorry I never told you about Clint", Will looked down at the ground. His eyes were sad. "How much of what you told Hunley was true", Ethan asked. "We were raised apart Ethan, I by my mother and Clint by his father. They did not part on good terms and could have poisoned our minds against each other. However the bond between twins is strong. We found each other again."

"We knew that the love we hold for one another can be used against us, by enemies of our agencies or even by IMF or SHIELD, when they want something from us. They do not care for family ties, we are just tools. Thus it was better they did not know", Clint said firmly. "So you get nothing out of this charade, even now. We take Will and go back to our agency and you three disappear", Ethan remarked. He did not like that outcome.

"We made a choice when we set this mission in motion Ethan", Will shot Clint a glance. "It is now time for you to leave. You do not want to be seen with us", Clint told them. Benji looked at them, searchingly. "How are you going to get out", he asked. "It is better for you not to know that", Steve replied. He nodded at Clint who again looked at Will. It seemed like something unspoken was passing between the two of them.

Will moved over to the side of Ethan, there were tears in his eyes. He was now being wrenched from his brother's side. "Surely you will see each other again",Jane said quietly, "this is not goodbye. You must have sneaky ways of keeping in touch".She was sure they would reach out and not lose each other again. Yet his farewell had an air of finality about how it was going. That made her frown. She loved happy endings and thought there should be one. Jane looked over at the other former Avengers, they too looked sad.

"He has made his choice do not make it harder", Clint whispered. "Choice", Ethan found a frown forming, he turned to Will and reeled backward as he was hit firmly in the face by his agent's fist. It was only then he remembered that Clint and Will had agreed to get out of this together . "As I said Ethan, I am sorry", Will told him. Nat had Jane pinned to the floor in a second and Steve already had Benji in a lock hold around his neck. "Tell them we overpowered you, it is after all the truth", Steve remarked.

Ethan found himself falling to the ground. He tried to master the strength to retaliate but Will was pressing on pressure points that made his muscles floppy and jelly like. "Gooddbye Ethan", Will said softly.

Now Ethan understood what choice Will Brandt had made. No matter what they had done to secure the downfall of the Syndicate, he had still fought at the side of his brother and the other rogue Avengers. Yes, he could say it was an act, but a whole prison filled with people had witnessed the truth. It was only a matter of time before Tony Stark found out that Clint Barton had a twin.

If he went back with them, Will would face pressure, Not only from IMF but from others higher up. They could imprison him or try to use him to entice Clint to surrender. Will and Clint had known this from the beginning. The only thing Will could do to avoid his fate was to run. He had effectively chosen his family over them.

Ethan lay on the ground and looked into Will's eyes. He felt the tears welling and saw Will's eyes also had moisture. Once he had been reluctant to join them, now it was obviously not that easy to walk away. Ethan knew Will would be disavowed by IMF. He would effectively become a fugitive like his brother. It was not an easy path he had chosen. He felt no anger toward his friend ,he had lied to protect his own wife from further danger, thus he understood. It did not make this farewell any easier though. "Goodbye Will, be safe", he said. Will squeezed his hand briefly before that same arm moved backwards then came at him with a clenched fist to hit him hard. The last thing he saw was Clint, taking Will's hand in his own.

xxxxxxxxxx

Will stared at Ethan, Benji and Jane lying on the ground in front of him. They were his friends and he felt like something had just been ripped from him. "We know how you feel Will, Steve said softly. "The Avengers were divided over choices as well. This was the only way though to ensure all of you walk away from this as free agents."

"You are one of us now', Nat echoed. She guessed that meant she would finally hear their story. First though they had to get out of the prison.

xxxxxx

"Where is Clint Barton", Tony asked one of the prisoners. It was the huge man, a giant who loomed over him. That man though was bleeding from several wounds that he had inflicted. He knew there was no escape.

The giant felt his anger swell, and his face set in a scowl of deep hatred. Now there was only one way to get revenge. The truth would deal a blow to both Barton and Brandt. "He was with the other one, his twin, named William Brandt. We thought they were enemies when they arrived, but they joined forces in the end. So it was an act, to gain his trust", a finger was pointed at Lane. "Now they have both joined Roger's as fugitive Avengers".

Tony stared for a moment, then shook his head, did he just hear what he thought he had, "twin", he asked," Barton has a twin". 'Yeah an identical one, did you not know. We thought you Avengers knew everything", the Giant countered. "You can still catch them both".

"Oh I intend to do just that". Two of them, well, well, Barton, you do know how to keep secrets. I hope he will like the raft", Tony muttered. "Sir, you were given information about an enemy organisation by Barton and Brandt", Jarvis countered. Now the AI was taking sides as well. "Barton chose the wrong side and now his brother had joined him", Tony stated. He still felt angry about being embarrassed by the duo.

"Search the prison, find Steve, Clint ,Nat and this William Brandt as well", Tony told the AI. There would be no escape. He would have a long conversation with the twins. They did not have to reveal this truth, that thought made its way through his mood. Clint must have known that his brother would put himself at risk of being arrested if he followed him. They had carried out a con job on this Syndicate and had paid a tough price for bring down bad people. It must have been personal, to risk so much.

Tony had to finally admit he had respect for what Clint and Will had done. Unfortunately he still had to bring them to justice. But in doing so he had to admit that he was no long sure, whose side he was on.

xxxxxx

"Are you sure this is going to work", Steve asked Clint as they prepared their escape route. "No, but apart from fighting our way out, this is the only thing we can try",Clint responded. Yes they could fight their way out and most likely win. But Steve had no desire to injure people who were just doing their jobs. It would also make their situation a lot worse.

The man in charge of the forces, greeted the group of 4 who approached him with their hands in the air. "My name is Agent Ethan Hunt, I have authority to be here". This soldier decided he was not going to get caught out, these people could easily be prisoners trying to escape. "Can you verify your identity", he asked. "Of course", replied Agent Ethan Hunt.

Tony, hovering in the air, could see the four people below. He was not inclined to let anyone just walk out. "Who are they", he requested. "They claim to be agents who were kidnapped by the Syndicate to fight in the prison arena. I have checked their identities, all of them are legitimate", the soldier stated.

"Hmm", said Tony, he hovered closer and scanned the foursome with the sensors in his suit. "Masks detected", came back the diagnosis. So Steve and the others had disguised themselves somehow and believed they could simply walk out. Wrong.

"They are wearing masks", he told the solider. Suddenly alot of guns were pointing at the four and Tony guessed they had captured Steve. "Roger's ,that was stupid", he stated firmly. He watched as the masks were pulled off. When he could finally see the face underneath he gasped, "that is not them", he stated.

"Speak, who are you", insisted the soldier. "We were told to do this by Captain America", one man told him. "Where is he", Tony asked. "I dear say he just sneaked by you all while you were busy detaining us", came the answer. Tony knew that he had just been tricked. So why they hell was he smiling.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Several Hours later IMF HQ undisclosed location.

"So you lost Brandt and Barton", Hunley stated. He looked at the large bruise covering Ethan Hunts face, it spoke of a confrontation. If Hunt had suspected he would have struck back. But Brandt had deceived him as well. Now he would be trying to explain why he did not know that Hawkeye's brother had worked as an agent with them for years. He would have to convince some scary people who would be looking to lay blame. But the bruising told him that Ethan Hunt was guiltless. Brandt himself would take the fall. He would no longer be able to hide, to be anonymous. He would have members of his own agency looking for him. If they found him, they would bring him to face questioning.

This time would be a test of just how good Brandt was a hiding . He would have the help of the rogue Avengers, who would in likelihood share their own hideout. But that was also why they would never stop searching. "Dammit, losing an agent was not how I wanted this to end", Hunley swore. "Neither did I", Ethan acknowledged . "The Syndicate is finished again though. We can add that to our successes. Brandt help us achieve this victory", Benji told their boss. "He did not have to reveal he had a twin".

"No it was fairly stupid of him. Though he told some awesome lies", Hunley pointed out. Of course lying was part of life when you were a spy. "Was it stupid to chose your family", Ethan asked. That was why Will had chosen to go with Clint, so they could finally be together.

xxxxxx

Clint opened a door and pointed inside. He knew what was waiting beyond, loving arms and lots of kisses. "Welcome home Will", he told his brother . They both, he knew had a road of recovery ahead of them. Will also had some adjusting to do.

Will smiled, he could feel the warmth already. "They will never know the full truth", he said to Clint. "No, Will it is better that they don't. I want you here, but the price it is too high. We both know what is going to happen", Clint stated. "Yes, and we will face it together", Will replied. "Like we should have long ago Clint", he added. Clint sighed, "It was never my choice Will, you know that. Choice is something that was taken from us". "Not entirely, we just made some choices Clint", Will reminded him. It remained to be seen what consequences those choices brought forth.

xxxxxxxxx

High security facility unknown destination

Desmond Lane looked into his twins scornful eyes. "So IMF wins again brother", his twin spat. "Not really", Desmond stated. "This idea of ours came about after we heard about the experimentations Hydra carried out on twins. They created the powers given to the individuals known as the Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver. There were others as well". "Our understanding was that the alterations made to the others were not successful. That was not the case. All they needed was a catalyst, to ignite the powers trapped within. This mission of ours provided that catalyst. Our drug was not responsible for the power they exhibited. All they needed to share was a little blood .They do not have a hope of containing what they will become".

Now we have unleashed Brandt and Barton upon the world and agencies like IMF will be brought to their knees trying to stop them." I call that a victory brother. It is just going to take a little time to happen."

Now both Lane's smiled and leaned back upon the walls of their cell.

THE END


End file.
